Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei: Gravità Aquila
by Solus Ortis
Summary: First High is not the only realm of battle in the Magic World. For those who hate magic in the world hate not only First High, but they also hate Third High.
1. Chapter 1

**Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei: Gravità Aquila**

**Chapter 1**

**School of Northern Battle**

* * *

_Magic was something that was either hated in history or loved within the confines of imagination, but in reality it has become a technology that has been both abused and loved by humanity for nearly a hundred years. All countries take great pains to train those with magic in their blood in order to maintain their positions as players on the world stage. In Japan there are only 9 schools that dare to train young magicians to reach their full potential and in another universe First High would be center stage, but other schools such as the case with Third High have their own stories to tell._

"I thank you students of Third High who could be here today, but please hold your tongues so I the master of ceremonies can go through the motions." The MC said.

_This particular MC was wearing the dark crimson red and golden patch of a Third High course one student uniform. He held a small microphone in his hand trying to quite down a bunch of excited magically powered teenagers aka magicians._

"As you all know our school places emphasis on using magic to fight, and as a result confrontations between students here are higher than they are at the other schools in our country. Make no mistake the Student Council doesn't tolerate fights that spill out into the hallway, so if you have a problem with another student settle it with a duel!" the MC yelled as the other Third High students here are captivated by his words.

_As the MC said due to the mostly warrior nature of Third High, the average number of incidents per year between students whether they involve magic or not are higher compared to those that occur at other schools. The administration board behind Third High and its Student Council decided upon two solutions long ago to counter this problem. The first was to increase the funding to and the number of members of the Public Morals Committee. The second was to allow official magical competitions between students some of which were close to the Nine Schools Battle in terms of difficulty. Some challenges were as mundane as stacking crates, others more challenging due to being based off a mixture of two arguing clubs specialties, and in this case an ever rare duel between students of which requires the approval of the Public Morals Committee in order to have._

"The rules for this duel are as followed….. 1. All lethal spells are forbidden. 2. Hand to hand combat is allowed. 3. The power of spells is restricted to causing no more than a few broken bones. 4. Spells that cause permanent damage are also forbidden. 5. No weapons are allowed unless they're Weaponized-Integrated CADs or weapons created through magic. 6. Direct attacks as long as they follow the other 5 guidelines are permitted. Interference in this match and infringement of these rules will result in immediate action and punishment by the Public Morals Committee." The MC announced.

_These various magical challenges particularly the ever rare duels between students are popular to watch for those at Third High. When duels are actually approved, the specific rule set for each one are decided by the extent of the students' abilities as well as their personal wishes._

"This duel is between Year 1 Course 2 student Maria C. Alcott." The MC said.

_Maria as the name obviously implies is a 16 year old female student at Third High, with chest length dark brown hair, a long bang covering her two black eyes, she's wearing the Third High uniform with the hem of the large piece of see through cloth attached to her blazer decorated with green lines symbolizing the wind, is wearing two black fingerless gloves on her hands, and the hilts and only the hilts of two katanas are hanging off her waist via two pieces of rope. Description aside, her expression as well as that of the aura she gives off is consistent with that of a totally emotionless ice queen._

"Her opponent is Year 3 Course 1 student Youichi Shimada." The MC announced.

_Youichi Shimada is a young 18 year old man, with a compact muscular built, a shaved head, has blue eyes, he's wearing the standard male uniform, and wields a fingerless gauntlet type CAD on his right arm_.

"This is a waste of time." an Elitist Course 1 student said.

"No kidding. Course 2 aside, there's not a chance in hell of a first year defeating a third year student." A friend of this Elitist Course 1 student pointed out.

"If it was Ichijou fighting…. then maybe things would be different since that guy has real battle experience, but as you say there's no way this first year could defeat a third year." The Elitist course 1 student pointed out.

"Are you two ready?" the MC asks of Maria and Youichi.

"The latest novel of the manga I've been reading is out today. I'd like to get a copy before they sell out, so I'll give you the one chance now to surrender." Maria said in a tone that fits her ice queen demeanor as she grabs her two katana hilts in her hands and detaches them from her waist.

"That's a bold declaration of victory before the fight. Youichi-san, do you have any comments?" the MC asks after whistling a bit from Maria's comment.

"I'll show you the punishment that goes with talking all tall like that!" an angry Youichi yelled.

"Now that the banter has been said and done…. Begin!" the MC ordered.

_The time for this battle was sent to when classes ended for the day, and the location was set to the outdoor cement amphitheater primarily used by Third High's Drama Club_

"In a battle between magicians, the spell that hits first is the one that wins. I'll show you what that means by using one perfect for a bitch as weak as you. First the activation sequence, then I absorb it, and finally it gets released as your defeat." Youichi thought as he pressed a combination of 5 buttons on his CAD.

_Youichi's spell pulls a cannonball shaped piece of cement out of the ground, and then propels it forward._

"I see… oscillation magic to shape the cement, followed by weight magic to levitate it out of the ground, and movement magic to launch it like a cannonball. That spell is as simple as it will be ineffective" Maria thought.

_Maria's left hand starts to twitch as she raises it towards the oncoming cannonball while an activation sequence appears around it indicating that she's preparing some kind of counter spell to deal with this attack._

"Is the CAD your hilt or the glove? Well no matter if you keep standing there you'll harm that pretty face of yours." Youichi thought.

_The best time to launch a counterattack is when your enemy thinks he's about to get what he wants, and Maria proves that point by casting some kind of spell which forces the cement cannonball straight to the ground the moment it is within two meters of that hill. Meanwhile the two aces of Third High's first years are standing on top of the amphitheater observing the battle going on below. They were known as the Crimson Prince and Cardinal George._

"Pheeeew not bad. Youichi's almost as good as you when it comes to weight type magic, so to be able counter that Maria must be pretty good." Masaki pointed out to his friend.

"Ha ha surely you jest Masaki? Youichi's not even close to my level with weight magic, but Maria didn't counter with weight magic per say. She manipulated gravity itself to stop that attack. It's still impressive though since only most 3rd years and magicians in the military can do so." Kichijouji explained finding his friend's comment a little amusing.

"If you so George, but I'm curious about what else she can do." Masaki retorts.

"What the…. you bitch how dare you deflect my attack!" Youichi yelled like he honestly expected Maria to willingly take his attack whilst he prepares to launch another cement cannonball.

_Once more an activation sequence appears around the CAD in Maria's left hand, and with a flash of light a moment later she has disappeared from where she stood._

"What the…. was that light oscillation magic?" a random student among those watching this duel said out of shock.

"Ha we'll never overtake First High if people can't figure out something so simple. Masaki, please tell me you noticed what she did?" Kichijouji asks his friend.

"Yeah she used gravity wave oscillation magic to bend the light waves hitting her backwards creating an effect resembling a flash bang, and followed up with a self-acceleration spell." Masaki answered.

_Maria reappears on Youichi's right side, and by using some kind of wind manipulation spell she creates a sort of katana shaped wind buzz saw blade using the hilt in her left hand as a medium._

"A wind blade huh? That's…. no it's a mixture of a gravity oscillation spell and a convergence spell to trap with wind like water in a bottle." Masaki thought.

"You think I'm going to let some course two student actually land a blow? Yeah right!" Youichi yelled as he directs a punch with his left arm towards where Maria was standing.

_By using another self-acceleration spell, Maria easily dodges Youichi's physical attack and maneuvers to his other side._

"Shit!" Youichi thought as he feels Maria's gravity entrapped wind blade touching his uniform.

"It's over." Maria declared.

_Like air trapped in a heavily pressurized container, Maria purposely creates an opening in the gravitational containment portion of her wind blade spell causing the air inside to escape and knock Youichi in the air as if he were laying on top of a human-sized emergency airbag. _

"Looks like Maria's just won this fight Masaki."Kichijouji points out to his friend.

"Return to the earth." Maria said as she casts another gravity wave oscillation spell.

_And that gravity manipulation spell brings Youichi to the ground hard knocking him unconscious. This causes one of the members of the Public Morals Committee to start examining him._

"Well…." the MC said wondering if he'll have to declare a victory or an infringement of the duel's rules next.

"He's fine, and uninjured save for a few cuts caused by the fall….. though he'll likely be very sore when he regains consciousness. I'll call for a stretcher, so go ahead and declare the results." The Public Morals Committee member explained.

"The duel is over. Winner: Maria C. Alcott." The MC announced.

* * *

_If you wish, go ahead and take the few seconds necessary to imagine the crowd's reaction from seeing a 3__rd__ year Bloom get trounced by a 1__st__ year Weed…... your time is up. Now imagine yourself traveling through time to a few weeks before the start of the new semester at Third High. Now imagine yourself inside the home office of Gouki Ichijou the head the Ichijou clan watching the man himself busy at work signing important documents._

"Are there any more documents I have to sign?" Gouki asks his assistant.

"None at this moment, but I'll check with headquarters and be back in a moment." His assistant answered before leaving the room.

"You can come out of the shadows now." Gouki said like he already knew someone else was in the room with him while he decides to review the documents he's already signed.

_For some strange reason a man dressed like an actual ninja emerges from the shadows and stands in front of Gouki's desk._

"As impressive as always Ichijou-sama. I sometimes wonder if I should have taken more lessons from Yakumo-sensei about concealing my presence before joining the intelligence bureau." The ninja said.

"For you not to contact me through official channels, I take it you've learned something that directly concerns my family?" Gouki asks without even looking up from the documents he was reviewing.

"Yes, one of my deep cover informants managed to inform me that there's an active death threat directed towards your children. I've already made arrangements for people I trust to discretely guard Akane-sama and Ruri-sama in addition to their current bodyguards, but I'd like to suggest something about your son." The ninja explained.

"Masaki is fully capable of defending himself in a fight, and if necessary Kichijouji can assist with his defense." Gouki pointed out.

"I don't deny that to be true Gouki-sama, however history has recorded many leaders being assassinated by the people they held closest to their heart. I'm of course not accusing Kichijouji-san of anything; however my informant said there was talk of someone infiltrating Third High. It could be anyone from a new student, a new teacher, and even the daytime janitor should this be true." The ninja explain.

"Which organization made the threat?" Gouki inquired.

"Unfortunately my informant was killed before he could tell me, however I've already ruled out Blanche and No Head Dragon. I've asked some of the other people I trust to look into it." the ninja explained.

"That is problematic if you can't determine the identity of the threat. Sigh… very well tell me your suggestion." Gouki ordered as he realized this situation is even more serious then he thought.

"Thank you sir. With your permission I'd like to contact your friend the head of the Alcott family. From what I understand his eldest daughter was already looking into studying magic abroad plus our have countries have been allies for years. I trust you've heard of the Gravità Aquila?" the ninja explained.

"Oh… in that case make the arrangements, but do so discreetly." Gouki said due to recognizing the title.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Maria: Excuse me, but do you know where the cafeteria is?

Masaki: Yeah go down the hall, take a left, and head out the first exit you see. You should see a large sign once you get outside.

Maria: Thank you.

Masaki: Could you please tell me your name?

Maria: You'll find out later.

Masaki: Oh?

Maria: Next time on Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei: Gravità Aquila "Body Guard of the West".


	2. Bodyguard of the West

**Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei: Gravità Aquila**

**Chapter 2**

**Bodyguard of the West**

* * *

"_Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." – Barack Obama, former US president. There is no denying that change won't be done for you, however it also means that being an emissary of change will not necessarily grant you the people's love either. Now that magic is the force that drives the world, there will always be those few people who hate the changes it brings about. There are two things that one must do in order to become the force that's continuously changing the world. The first thing is to pass a written test on magical theory after deciding on what magic high school to attend, and the second thing is to undertake an assessment of one's practical magical ability. The former of the two is what this story's heroine Maria C. Alcott has been taking for the last 1½ hours. _

"Pencils down and heads up because the written test is officially over, so please pass your test to the person in front of you and I'll collect them. If any of you need to use the bathroom please do so now. The practical portion of Third High's entrance exam will begin in 10 minutes at the gymnasium." The proctor for the written test ordered.

_After taking a couple of minutes to collect the school supplies she brought with her, Maria decides to follow the proctor's advice and use the ladies room. Once a few more minutes pass she emerges from a stall wearing a black t-shirt, along with a black short sleeved leather jacket, dark gray pants, dark gray shoes, she still has on the same fingerless gloves, and the same bladeless hilts she did in the future compared to the other applicants who are wearing their middle school uniforms. This is due to the fact that Maria attended a 4 year magic high school in the former United States of America, and due to a combination scholastic regulations she has no choice but to take the entrance exam for Third High if she wishes to study abroad._

"I should have answered B to the second problem about the 3 great puzzles of weight magic now that I think about it." Maria quietly mumbles to herself as she starts to wash her hands.

"Do you think you got any more problems on the written test wrong then?" another female student who happens to be in the bathroom asked.

"Hmm?" Maria said as she turns to face the person talking to her.

_Maria finds herself looking at a Third High Course 1 student drying her hands off with a paper towel, but she's unable to tell of which year from glance alone. This potential future senpai of Maria has snow white skin, dark brown eyes, finely brushed waist length dark green hair, appears to be about the same height as Maria, and given the size of her uniform she appears to prefer that her clothes be form fitting._

"Oh sorry if I surprised you, but I just happen to overhear what you said. I remember taking the entrance exam last year, and… let's just say if it wasn't for my results in the practical exam I doubt I would have been accepted." The second year Third High student said after she threw the paper towel she was using in the trashcan.

"There were a few more magical theory questions related to actual combat then I originally expected for Third High's entrance exam, but if all goes well I should have scored at least an 80 or higher." Maria explains to her as of yet unknown senpai.

"That's good to hear, and good luck with your practical test." The second year Third High student said in a happy tone.

"What are you here? The new school year hasn't started yet." Maria points out to her unknown senpai.

"Preparations for the new school year are being done by Third High's various clubs. I'm just helping oversee the process, and speaking of which I should really get back to it." the second year Third High student said before leaving the bathroom.

_Maria was about to reach for the paper towel dispenser closest to her when all of a sudden she sees the senpai she just talked to walk back into the bathroom for some reason._

"I almost forgot something I wanted to tell you. Did you notice the janitor that was mopping the floors next to a couple of the big doors out in the hallway?" the second year Third High student curiously asked.

"No. Why do you ask?" Maria answered in a stoic tone of voice before asking a question herself.

"He's been giving all of the potential new students walking down the hallway just outside this bathroom a creepy look. I just wanted to give you a friendly warning is all, and again good luck on your practical test." The second year Third High student said before leaving the restroom again.

_Maria decides to wait a few more seconds just to see if the senpai she's been talking to will walk back into the bathroom for a second time. When she doesn't; Maria exits the bathroom only to find the creepy janitor her senpai described a little to her left and Masaki Ichijou along with his friend Kichijouji Shinkurou walking down the stairs directly in front of her._

"How do you think you did Masaki?" Kichijouji asks his friend as they started to walk down the hallway together.

"Pretty challenging, but I should be in the top 10 for the written exam." Masaki answered.

"You're practical ability may be better than mine, but there's no way you're going to get a higher score than me on the written test." Kichijouji declared to his friend.

"Ha ha well you better be able to do that much otherwise Akane will turn her affections to someone else." Masaki laughs.

"Sigh… there you go bringing that up again, and I'm not a lolicon." Kichijouji said as he turns a little red with embarrassment.

_After Masaki and Kichijouji pass Maria she follows them down the hallway, but it was mostly due to the fact that they were already headed in the same direction anyway. Maria stops walking all of a sudden after she lets her arms red against her pants pockets._

"Shoot… phone must have fallen out of my pocket." Maria mumbled to herself before dashing back to the ladies room.

_Once Maria walks back inside the restroom, the creepy looking janitor looks up the staircase and through the big doors he happens to be standing next to so as to make sure no one else unexpectedly enters the hallway._

"Good…. I don't have to worry about one of these magical brats popping up out of nowhere." The creepy janitor thought once he was sure no one would unexpectedly enter this particular hallway.

_The creepy janitor carefully twists off the top of his mop handle revealing it to have actually been a cleverly hidden blowgun. _

"With this people will realize how magic must be eradicated from this world." The creepy janitor thought as he prepares to blow as hard as he can on this gun.

"Oh no you don't." Maria declared in a serious tone as she pulls the creepy janitor into the bathroom.

_Whether they were unaware of it or chose to ignore it because they thought the situation was being handled, Masaki and Kichijouji continued to walk down the hallway as Maria quietly subdued Masaki's would be assassin. Maria emerges from the ladies room a few moments later completely unharmed, and leaves the creepy janitor unconscious in the ladies room. When Masaki, Kichijouji, and Maria arrived at the gymnasium they expected to be in the same group that they were for the written test while they undergo the practical exam. They are instead ordered by someone waiting for them at the door to go to different rooms inside Third High's huge gymnasium. As expected of a Magic high school each room turns out to be rather spacious, and perfect to see the strengths and weaknesses of the various hopeful magicians. Each test group finds a trio of proctors waiting inside the respective rooms they're assigned to. In the case of Maria's test group…_

"My name is Naotake Mitsuya. I'll be the head proctor for your practical examination, and before anyone asks my last name is only a coincidence. I am in no way related to the Mitsuya family of the Ten Master Clans. I'll let my two co-proctors introduce themselves now." Naotake informed.

"I'm Hiro Fukuhara one of the martial arts instructors here at Third High. I was unable to become a course 1 student during my years here, but I'm more than capable of seeing if any of you have what it takes." Hiro informed.

"I'm Tokimi Mitsuya the leader of Third High's Club Management Group, and a second year student." Tokimi informed.

"That…. voice…" Maria thought as she recognized Tokimi.

_Maria was so focused on the practical portion of her own examination that she didn't bother paying attention to her three proctors past listening to the sound of their voices. When Maria heard Tokimi speak however; she looked up from the manga she happened to be reading off of her phone only to realize that Tokimi was the senpai she was talking to a few minutes ago in the restroom_

"I was asked by Mitsuya-sensei to sub for your test group when your original third proctor called in sick last minute, and don't worry I'm pretty sure I'm related to the Mitsuya family of the 10 master clans." Tokimi said in a sarcastic tone for the purpose of easing the tension in the room.

_If this joke was told under normal circumstances it's likely that very few people would find it amusing, however given the current circumstances several of the Third High hopefuls find it hilarious due to how much stress they're all under. After all of their laughter subsides, the practical examination of Maria's test group can finally begin. Most perform at the level expected of upper tier course 1 students, others struggle between the precarious border that is the act of getting into Third High, and sadly almost everyone else fails miserably through one means or another. Even as the second to last potential student tries to test their fate, Maria acts uninterested preferring to kill time until it is her turn by reading the novelization of an old manga series she keeps in her bag._

"Hm… oh the pages are stuck together." Maria mumbled to herself as she flips through the pages of her book.

"Watch out… I've losing control over the spell**!" **the second to last potential student yelled worried about the safety of the others here.

"You in the leather jacket…. Look out!" Tokimi yelled.

_Maria was at least aware enough of her surroundings to know that she was the only one in her test group wearing a leather jacket, so she decided to put her book aside and once she looked up she found some kind of spherical object speeding towards her._

"Dodge or deflect?" Maria asks herself.

_After she asked herself that, Maria's instincts kicked in by deciding that the latter of the two options would be a better choice for her in this situation. As for how Maria decides to deflect the attack; she does so by instinctively reaching for one of the hilts attached to her waist while preparing the activation sequence for a spell, and finally releases it in the form of the same wind blade spell she used or rather will use against Youichi in the near future._

"That's impressive. I could use a girl like this on the kenjutsu club." Fukuhara-sensei thought as he sees Maria slice through the spherical object, of which upon closer examination was revealed to be an ordinary rubber ball.

"I'm sorry… I was just so nervous that I guess I started to halve a panic attack." The second to last potential student said as she was sorry for her actions.

"Accidents are to be expected when it comes to studying magic, so don't worry about it." Maria said as she wasn't really interested in the student's apology; however she wasn't going to refute it either.

"I'll just say it's your turn now…. um Maria C. Alcott…. is that correct?" Tokimi asked after reading through a list of the names of potential students in this particular test group.

"Yes." Maria said after dispelling the magical sequence she's been casting.

"Unless Mitsuya-sensei and Fukuhara-sensei object, I believe you've passed the portion of the practical exam about performing a spell your familiar with." Tokimi said.

"I have no objections, but keep in mind that as you've already seen with the other hopefuls this counts for only a small portion of your score for the practical exam." Mitsuya-sensei informed.

"Mitsuya-sensei is correct of course. We've seen applicants perform a single spell so well that it's ridiculous in the first part of the practical, but fail the second part of the practical exam miserably and it's the second part which makes up for 70 percent of your grade." Fukuhara-sensei explained.

_Even though the proctors haven't called out her name in a sense, Maria believes that it may as well already officially be her turn so she decides to get up from her seat and step out in front of the proctors._

"Before we continue I'd like to ask you something first since I want to be sure about what we just saw, but was that the type A close quarters combat spell Wind Saber?" Tokimi inquired.

"I'm impressed, but that's to be expected of someone from the Ten Master Clans. I wasn't expecting to meet someone here who knew about this spell so soon." Maria said as Tokimi's question was able to surprise her a little.

"I asked because I was under the impression that only members of the various surgical strike teams under Stars knew how to perform that spell. That makes me wonder how you know it actually." Tokimi explained.

"My father who was once a member of Stars taught me that spell, and it was my great grandfather who taught it to magical Special Forces squads in the former United States of America before it became the USNA." Maria explains in turn.

"Would your great grandfather happen to be George L. Alcott?" Tokimi inquired.

"Yes." Maria answered.

"Ah then your of that Alcott family. In any case I'm sorry for taking up your time Mitsuya-sensei and Fukuhara-sensei to simply satisfy my own curiosity." Tokimi said.

"Yes well now that this question and answer segment is out of the way let's continue. As you've already seen an obstacle course consisting of a variety of physical and magical traps has been set up in this room." Mitsuya-sensei explained.

"The test is simple. All you have to do is maneuver this rubber ball through the obstacle course using any combination of basic speed, weight, and movement spells. Your total score will be based upon how much time it takes you to clear this obstacle course, how many spells you cast, and how well you overcome each obstacle on it." Fukuhara-sensei explained.

"I'll begin then." Maria said as starts to prepare the activation sequence of another spell.

"Hold on… I just have one more thing to say, of which is try to relax as you go through this test. Provided you've done well enough on the written portion of the entrance exam simply finishing the obstacle course is usually enough to guarantee a pass, though you shouldn't be content with that either and try to finish with the highest score possible especially since Third High prides itself on martial ability." Tokimi said to both Maria and the potential students that went before her.

"I'll take your words to heart, but can I begin now? I don't wish to keep the others here any longer then necessary." Maria points out.

"You can start whenever you're ready." Mitsuya-sensei answered.

_Maria continues to take deep breaths as she starts to maneuver her rubber ball through this obstacle course. The first few obstacles consist of simple things such as moving the rubber ball through carefully measured openings in a series of nets, maneuvering through tiny doors that seem to open/close at random, and very carefully moving through constantly changing mini-mazes. Despite the sheer simplicity of these obstacles, Maria looks as though she's struggling rather hard to get through them as she approaches the first real challenge in this course._

"Do you remember when you went through this obstacle course a year ago Tokimi?" Mitsuya sensei inquired.

"Of course and I remember having to force my way through the obstacle Maria's about to deal with as well, but personally I thought it was a bit much for an entrance exam." Tokimi answered.

"As you said Third High prides itself on its martial ability, so if potential new students are unable to overcome something as simple as this they have no chance under live fire." Fukuhara-sensei pointed out.

"That is true only of our graduates who decide to join the military Fukuhara-sensei. We've had graduates who focused on developing their ability with healing magic after all." Mitsuya-sensei pointed out.

"In any case it shouldn't be that hard for Maria to deal with this seeing as how she seems to have an affinity for spells involving wind manipulation." Tokimi said.

_The first true challenge in this obstacle course is just about to begin when Maria's rubber ball is only a few centimeters away from entering a human sized negatively pressured cylindrical container._

"What's the purpose of this container? There aren't any signs of physical modification, so that means any surprises have to be magical." Maria thought when her rubber ball actually entered the container.

_What if any dust that remained inside the cylindrical container starts to stir, then it starts to rise in the air, and finally it's put out of sight when a magic booby-trap induces a powerful raging mini-tornado. The moment Maria realizes what she's been looking at her magic almost instantly cancels itself out, to which it causes the rubber ball that she's been so carefully guiding to be sucked up by tornado's air current._

"Is something wrong?" Tokimi asks due to being a little worried about her potential future underclassman.

_Suddenly and without warning Maria drops to her knees, falls forward with her arms outstretched, and her eyes start to shake as if they're having a seizure._

"I'm sorry I'm sorry. If I knew you all were there I never would have done it." Maria quietly and repeatedly starts to mumble to herself.

_Concerned for Maria's wellbeing, Tokimi quickly runs to her side._

"Are you alright?" Tokimi asked after helping Maria back on her feet.

_Maria felt an extreme bout of nausea hit her before she could respond, so instead she runs as fast as she can towards the closest trashcan and deposits the contents of her stomach in it._

"I'm fine now… by body reacts like that whenever I see a tornado." Maria said after noticing that Tokimi was standing behind her.

"It's clear you have your own demons, so I won't ask about them. Can you still keep going?" Tokimi asks.

"No... I'm afraid your teachers will just have to grade based off of what I managed to accomplish. I'm under no condition to continue." Maria answered.

"Then you can just go home and sleep this off. You should find out your results within the next two or three weeks." Tokimi said.

* * *

_Maria had enough pride to walk upright out of this room like how the others in her test group will in a few minutes, but she leans against a wall for support whenever she can after she exits due to her earlier panic attack leaving her in a more exhausted state than she was willing to admit. Thankfully she's able to make it back to the hotel where she's been staying for the entrance exams without any further incidents, and once she gets to her room Maria immediately turns in for the rest of the day. For the next couple of weeks Maria has nothing to do but eat, sleep, and practice her craft in whatever limited capacity she can inside a hotel room. That was even enough to keep her satisfied until one day late in the evening she's woken up by a seemingly never ending beeping noise._

"This better be important." Maria mumbles to herself as she reaches for the room phone on a nearby nightstand without even bothering to get up from her bed.

_After having a few hit and misses akin to multiple failures at a claw game by trying to reach for the phone, Maria decides she's had enough and just grabs the room phone outright._

"It's me your father Maria, so switch over to the video call mode." Mr. Alcott said.

_Society has been able to develop technology several years ahead of its time thanks to magic whether the improvement was caused by magic, merely inspired by a magical concept, and or developed to just keep up with magic it's all the same really. One such example is that video calls have become as common as normal phone calls, to which is an advantage most modern hotels take by installing a video conference system through all of the TVs in all of their rooms to be used at the leisure of their guests._

"Fine, but I need a few minutes to straighten up first." Maria said as she gets out of bed.

_Maria spends those few minutes by quickly brushing her long hair and putting on a clean pair of PJs, but soon enough she's ready to hear whatever her father has to tell her with a few quick presses of a button. Once the hotel room in her TV screen lights up, we can see that Maria's father is a white male in his late 40s, a grayed out buzz cut hair style, and is wearing the uniform of a USNA navy staff sergeant._

"You had better have a good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night father. Also, why are you wearing your uniform? It's been years since you retired." Maria asks in a tone which indicates that she bares little love for her father.

"I'm wearing my uniform because I just returned from an old friend's funeral. As for waking you up in the middle of night… your grandfather wished to speak with you personally about the results of your entrance exams to Third High. I can put you through to him from here." Mr. Alcott explained.

"Then do so father. I'd like to hear what he has to say so I can get back to sleep." Maria said.

"Wait… I just wanted to know how you were first. My dad is asking a lot of you after all." Mr. Alcott suddenly said.

"I will do what is necessary for our family to regain the prosperity it lost because of your weakness, and my physical condition as well as my personal state of mind is none of your concern. Now connect me to grampa father." Maria said like she was ordering her father around.

"As you wish…. One moment please." Mr. Alcott said.

_One second later the sight on the TV screen changes to that of an old businessman in his late 70s, several wrinkles on his face, wearing a black suit/tie, and he has the same intense black eyes as Maria which only goes to further prove their biological ties._

"You're looking well Grampa. I see you've been taking your medicine." Maria said out of happiness due to seeing her grandfather.

"It's only because you keep reminding me. In any case I see you're still referring to me by that moniker." Alcott Sr said in a formal business-like tone but he was also happy to see his granddaughter.

"I thought grandpa liked me calling him grampa. I understand from my father that you have something to say about the results of my entrance exam." Maria said as she initially and purposely refers to her grandpa in the third person.

"You will receive an official E-mail about your results from the school later, but I asked someone at Third High who owes me a favor to put your test at the top of the pile of papers to grade. That friend informed me of your results a few minutes ago, so I had your father call you immediately. I'm also sorry for waking you up while you were sleeping." Alcott Sr explained.

"It's alright grampa you work hard enough trying to restore our family to glory, so the least I can do is tolerate some inconvenience." Maria said in order to ease the guilt she perceived her grandpa to be feeling.

"Then let me be the first one to congratulate you on your acceptance into Third High. Among all of the magic high schools in the world that emphasize battle magic Third High is certaintly one of the best. Starting the first of next month you'll be a Course 2 student, so expect to deal with the elitism and classism from Course 1 students." Alcott Sr said as this time he more clearly showed that he was happy for her granddaughter.

"Thank you father." Maria said.

"I heard how you had one of your panic attacks during the practical portion of the entrance exams. I'm sorry I would have told you in advance if I knew such an obstacle would be there. I'm also sorry that you have to go to Third High at all." Alcott Sr said.

"While I may have to be here because of my talentless father, I will do what is necessary to restore strength to the Alcott bloodline." Maria said.

"If it wasn't for your father the thing that caused you to be so afraid of tornadoes wouldn't have ever happened. Getting back on topic, did you happen to see Masaki Ichijou during the entrance exam?" Alcott Sr inquired.

"Once yes, and as the information we received from this country's intelligence agency suggests there is indeed an active death threat against the children of the Ichijou family. I disabled a low level would be assassin after the theoretical portion of the exam, but given how easily I did so I highly doubt the threat is over." Maria informed.

"Yes we'll well aware of that attempt. After being interrogated it turns out that the man you disabled was an imposter who killed the real janitor in charge of that area of the school. Unfortunately local federal investigators failed to notice that he had hidden a suicide pill on his person." Alcott Sr informed.

"I… take it he had a few last words?" Maria asks as she's somewhat disturbed by this news of suicide.

"Typical anti-magic rhetoric calling for the immediate execution of all magicians for the sake of a pure blue world, but it was the last words among his last words that we found most disturbing." Alcott Sr answered.

"What were they?" Maria inquired.

"This assassin's last words as he said them were 'Now we know the guard dog you have sent to protect that family which wields a sinful power'. If what he says is true then it's safe to say the people behind this are already coming up with new plans." Alcott Sr answered.

"I'll take your warnings seriously grampa, but there's something I must tell you grandpa. I believe that a second year course 1 student knows or at least is investigating why I'm really at Third High." Maria informed.

"Who?" Alcott Sr asks due to being concerned by this news.

"Someone by the name of Tokimi Mitsuya from the Ten Master Clans." Maria answered.

"I recognize the name. She's one of the potential candidates to succeed the current head of the Mitsuya family, but what makes you suspect she knows why you're there?" Alcott Sr inquired.

"I highly doubt that I would have notice that impostor janitor's intentions until it was too late if Tokimi Mitsuya didn't warn me." Maria explained.

"I'll have someone on my end look into it. Moving along, the rest of your clothes and your personal belongings will arrive at your new residence around noon your time on your first day of school." Alcott Sr informed.

"What about my school uniform?" Maria inquired.

"It'll be delivered to your room a few days before the new semester starts along with your student ID and class schedule. That should give you enough time to get used to wearing it." Alcott Sr answered.

"If you picked it out grampa then I'm sure it'll fit me perfectly." Maria retorts.

"I thank you for that compliment Maria. I'm afraid I have a meeting in a few minutes so we'll have to cut our conversation here; however I wish to leave you with one final parting note until the next time we chat." Alcott Sr said.

"Which is what exactly Grampa?" Maria curiously asked.

"As you're already painfully aware with a couple of exceptions the entirety of the Alcott family has failed to produce a talented magician for several years. This dark time has caused many in our family to believe extinction to be inevitable, but you and your cousin are our light in that darkness. You two are the first talented magicians produced in two generations, so you must both walk the dark path we've placed before you in order for all of us to walk back into the light." Alcott Sr said in the most philosophical tone possible.

"I'm already aware of that as both you and my father said those exact words to me before I came to this country." Maria retorts nonchalantly though on the inside she's happy that her grandfather has faith in her.

"I know, but I simply had to remind you for my own sake. Good night Maria." Alcott Sr said before ending the video call.

* * *

_With her grandfather's words stilling ringing in her ears, Maria returns to most wonderful parts of dreamland knowing that once the school year begins. Once roused from dreamland, our heroine spends the next month familiarizing herself with the neighborhood around Third High. It was partially for the reason Maria was attending Third High in the first place, but in actuality she wanted to find as many stores that sold anime/manga paraphernalia due to her being an ice queen style otaku. In fact a few days later as she's on her way to Third High for the first time, Maria is heavily engrossed in reading a mint condition version of the 1__st__ novelization of an old series called Kaichou Wa Maid-sama that she bought._

"I wonder how I would look in a stereotypical maid costume such as this." Maria thought not that she'd actually put one on if the opportunity came up.

_Maria notices as she's reading that a few of her fellow students are running to school for some reason or another. For some it's simply because they want to be their early, for others perhaps they're late to some kind of meeting, and maybe everyone else is doing so simply because they enjoy the exercise._

"Run if you all wish….. I'm still going to get to school before the opening ceremony starts regardless." Maria thought due to finding the act of some students running to school a little amusing.

"I can't believe we slept in. Hurry up Masaki!" Kichijouji yelled.

"I'd go faster if you'd help me carry these suitcases!" Masaki yelled back.

_Curious by the frantic nature of the yelling, Maria turns around to find "Cardinal George" jogging in place a few feet away from her and the "Crimson Prince" breathing somewhat heavily while he carries a heavy looking steel briefcase in each hand._

"Sorry, but I have to turn in the research materials in those briefcases before the opening ceremony starts." Kichijouji said as Maria starts to resume her walk to school.

"It's your own fault for sleeping with my sister." Masaki said to Kichijouji as he purposely teases his friend.

"Okay the only reason we're in this mess is because your sister changed the setting on your alarm clock, second she snuck into my futon while I was asleep, and for the last time I'm not a lolicon so hurry it up!" Kichijouji said as he continues to act with bewilderment under this line of teasing.

_Maria feels the gust of wind caused by Kichijouji running past her and actually finds it a little pleasant, but she's knocked to the ground when she feels the touch of the steel briefcase in Masaki's hand._

"Oh shoot. George you go ahead to the lab, and I'll catch up in a bit." Masaki said as he tosses the two briefcases in his hand to his friend after he notices the blunder he just committed.

"Alright, but if you take too long I'll just meet you at the auditorium." Kichijouji said right before casting a self-acceleration spell on himself to get to wherever he had to go.

"Sorry about that. My friend George can get obsessed over his research sometimes." Masaki said as he offers to help Maria.

_Perhaps it was because Masaki was the one who knocked her over, but Maria somewhat coldly turns down his offer and stands back up on her own before continuing the walk to school. Still feeling a little guilty about the mishap Masaki quickly catches up with her._

"I noticed. Perhaps your friend should yell a little louder. I don't think the students walking on the other side of the road heard him." Maria said knowing that Masaki was going to follow her.

"I should have been watching where I was running too, but are you alright?" Masaki asked due to still feeling guilty about his earlier blunder.

"Yes. I've taken hits far worse than that during my self-training, so don't worry. Shouldn't you be catching up with your friend? Well regardless I doubt you'll want to be seen with someone like me much longer." Maria bluntly points out as she checks her copy of Kaichou Wa Maid-sama for any sign of damage.

"What are you….. oh you're a Course 2 student." Masaki said as he finally notices the lack of an Emblem on Maria's sleeves.

"I don't really care about such things, but you are right about how I need to catch up with my friend. Well… see you." Masaki said before he activates a self-acceleration spell in order to catch up with Kichijouji.

_Maria enjoys the remainder of her trip to school by silently reading her book, and she even finds a few of the upperclassmen giving away maps of the school to new students once she walks through Third High's front gate._

"Excuse me, but would you like a map to the…. ahhh it's you." one of the upperclassmen said out of surprise due to recognizing Maria for some reason.

_This time Maria's curiosity was piqued by the sound of her surprised upperclassman, so she decides to put away her book only to discover that she knows the person talking to her._

"Tokimi… senpai what are you doing here? This doesn't strike me as the kind of work that the leader of Club Management Group should be doing." Maria curiously asks.

"Going to a school where you're primarily taught how to use magic to fight can be more stressful then you think. Like the previous Club Management Group leader, I just want to do my part and help make it easier on new students. Also I can tell you're uncomfortable with it, so you can drop the honorifics if it's with me." Tokimi explained.

"If there were more people like you in the world then a school such as this would have no reason to exist." I point out.

"I'll just assume you meant that as a compliment and say thank you. Say do you remember how I told you about a creepy janitor when we first met?" Tokimi inquired.

"A little I think." Maria answered.

"I heard from the student council president that he was arrested under suspicion of being a spy. Talk about the world we live in you know." Tokimi explained.

"This is the first I've heard about it. He seemed pretty harmless to me." Maria bluntly says though she was actually the one who rendered the creepy janitor harmless within a few seconds.

"Meh…. I just thought you'd find it interesting. In any case allow me to be the first one to welcome you to Third High." Tokimi said as she stretches out her left hand to Maria.

"Thank you….. I guess." Maria said as she accepts Tokimi's offer for a handshake.

_Perhaps not having to deal with the bigotry that goes on in Japan's magic high schools on her first day is a good thing for Maria. Then again this sign could easily be the calm before the storm; however until then everything is…._

**To Be Continued**

* * *

Yukiko: You Course 2 bitch, get out of my seat now!

Maria: No.

Mae: Someone get a Public Morals Committee member… a fight's about to break out!

Maria: Next time on Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei: Gravità Aquila "Bodyguard of the West II"

* * *

Original Spell List

Type A CQC Spell: Wind Saber

Appearance: A red blade filled with hot wind who's appearance is like that of beam sabers from Gundam. The shape and length of the blade can be adjusted to suit the caster's style of swordsmanship.

Science behind the spell: This magical sequence is the result of a combination of acceleration, oscillation, and convergence type spells. By using a convergence type spell along a single line to gather the various gasses that make up the air we breathe it creates an area super-pressurized air within the target coordinates. Then a finely tuned gravity wave oscillation spell is used to create a gravity flux to keep the pressurized air together akin to the manner the Earth's core keeps its atmosphere from flying out to space, and a second gravity flux is created around the exterior of the space the pressurized air takes in a manner akin to a pressurized container. Next an acceleration spell is used on the molecules within the pressurized air in order to heat it up and give it a red glow. While the superheated air improves Wind Saber's cutting power, the acceleration spell is actually used to help create a visual reference to the length of the blade for the caster's safety.

How the cutting/slicing mechanic works: The spell's ability to cut objects follows the same science fiction concept beam sabers in various Gundam Series. The superheated plasma(air) is contained by a Minovsky particle field(the gravity fluxes). When a solid object disturbs the containment field the superheated plasma or air in this case escapes through the resulting opening eating or essentially "cutting" through the offending material until the containment field can be reformed.

Because of this concept there are very few spells capable of blocking Wind Saber, of which only adds to its deadliness. An example of two such capable spells would be the Phalanx spell of the Juumonji family or another magician casting Wind Saber themselves.

Weakness: This spell needs to be continuously fed a fairly large amount of psions in order to be maintained. In addition once all of the superheated pressurized air escapes the gravity containment field, Wind Saber needs to be canceled out and re-casted in order to refill it. Due to the Law of Magic Interference the activation sequence takes longer to prepare each time this happens.


	3. Bodyguard of the West II

**Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei: Gravità Aquila**

**Chapter 3**

**Bodyguard of the West II**

* * *

"_Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself." – Alan Moore, author of __V for Vendetta__. People love a good story because they're almost always more interesting than reality, and people read a good story because they find it an escape from their own monotonous reality. Yet more often than not the act of telling a story is for deceiving of others rather than entertaining them. Take magicians and the power at their fingertips for example. Through magic they deceive the reality of something in order to change it or defy its laws. Some would say that the power to defy the laws of the universe is unnatural, and those who say so are right in that regards about magic but that's the world we simply live in today._

"Meh… I just thought you'd find it interesting. In any case allow me to be the first one to welcome you to Third High." Tokimi said as she offers herself for a handshake.

"Thank you… I guess." Maria retorts as she returns Tokimi's offer, but she considers for a moment whether or not she should have.

"Oh hey in any case by the looks of your uniform you specialize in wind type magic like me, but if you can cast Wind Saber that's to be expected. Anyways as your senpai I'll gladly show you a trick or two when I have the time." Tokimi offers.

"Hmph…. I doubt it." Maria quietly mumbled.

"What was that?" Tokimi inquired in a tone that suggests she heard what Maria said.

"It's just that sure we might specialize in the same type of elemental magic not that it could be categorized as such by modern science, but we may not use wind the same way so it's premature to say if you could team me anything." Maria explained in order to avoid causing a confrontation with her senpai.

"Good point…. So anyways would you like a map?" Tokimi asked as she held out a small pamphlet.

"Huh?" Maria asks back confused by the question being asked of her.

"Oh… ummm it's just for your entrance exams you were only shown to the gymnasium and the classrooms near it, so you shouldn't be familiar with the rest of the school yet. We give away these maps at the start of the school year to new students and transfer students." Tokimi explained.

"Ah I see that is a good thing. In that case I will take a map thank you." Maria said as she took the pamphlet from Tokimi's hand.

"In case you're hungry I think the cafeteria is still serving breakfast, and if you just want a quiet place to wait until the opening ceremonies the library is usually fairly quite at the start of a semester." Tokimi suggests.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll just walk around the campus for a bit and get by bearings." Maria informed.

"Suit yourself, but…. though I doubt it'll happen, you should probably be on the lookout for our student council president." Tokimi warns.

"What does he look like? And why tell me for that matter?" Maria curiously asked.

"Ohhhhhhh trust me… you'll know him when you see him before the opening ceremony. As for why…. well he can be a bit much and stubborn in his beliefs." Tokimi explained.

"I take it this is one of those things where I can only understand if I actually meet him?" Maria asked.

"Kind of yeah." Tokimi answered.

"In that case I'll be sure to remember your warning, but if you'll excuse me I have some exploring to do." Maria retorts.

* * *

_Despite how much she's read into it Maria found the discrimination that goes on between Course 1 and Course 2 students more off putting than she expected. The Course 1 students she happened to run into either truly didn't notice her presence, or chose to blatantly ignore her, and some even quietly insulted her as they were walking by. Eventually Maria found herself in the library quietly reading for the next hour or so the same manga she had been on her way to school._

"I wonder how I would react around such a conniving man." Maria thought.

"Look out below!" a female voice yelled.

_Maria looks up to find a heavy looking book falling straight towards her head, but thankfully she has the train of thought to catch the book before it hits her face instead of slicing it in half like she did with a rubber ball during the entrance exam. A good thing too seeing as how this was likely school property. _

"Sorry, I guess I should have raised the ladder a little higher before actually climbing it." the female voice said.

"So it's going to be the improbable female cast trope now huh?" Maria mumbles to herself as she places the heavy book she caught on the table in front of her.

"What was that?" the female student asked as she only partially overheard what Maria said.

"Nothing….." Maria answered.

_Maria decided to turn around in order to see who almost dropped a book on her. She found a Course 2 Third High student a foot taller than her, with dark red eyes, straight short azure blue hair, with a thin build, and wearing a thinly framed pair of glasses._

"I haven't seen you before. Are you a transfer student from another magic school or a first year student? I ask because this is my third year, and I've never seen you before." The 3rd year Third High student inquired.

_In similar circumstances Maria would have actually excused herself from the conversation by now, however this third year student she was talking to had a poorly disguised depressed expression on her face. Maria isn't the type to go out of her way to help a random stranger, but she herself admits that she's not immune to that compulsion of kindness at times. For that reason alone…. Maria decided to keep talking to this 3__rd__ year senpai._

"Both because scholastic regulations forced me to enter Third High as a first year student. That aside….. it's rare to see someone where glasses now given all of the advancements in medicine caused by magic. Would you happen to have….." Maria was saying.

"No I don't have oversensitivity to particle emission. It's just that my parents can't afford the corrective procedure and send me here at the same time." the 3rd year Third High student explained as she interrupted Maria.

"Ah I see…. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable then." Maria said.

"It's alright I get that question a lot actually. Still it's sad that we're the unfortunate band of Weeds instead of the Blooms." The 3rd year Third High student said with a sad look on her face.

"As my accent already indicates I'm from another country, but I'm aware of how it's against school regulations to use those terms publically. Still it can't be helped since very few magicians train their abilities just to become teachers, and among those that do there are even fewer who have the right skill set to become teachers in the first place." Maria said as she tries to cheer up her senpai in her own special way.

"I know….. I'm sorry for forcing you to listen to a tiny amount of my problems." The 3rd year Third High student apologetically said.

"Would all 1st Year students please proceed to the auditorium immediately? Third High's opening ceremony will begin in 15 minutes." A random teacher said over the PA system.

"It seems our conversation will have to be cut very short. Will you be attending the opening ceremony?" Maria curiously asks.

"No I'm busy with my work for the library committee, and unless one is directly involved with the opening ceremony it's not required for 2nd and 3rd year students to attend." The 3rd year Third High student explained.

"Then I shall bid you a good day." Maria said before taking her leave.

* * *

_It only takes Maria 10 minutes to get to the auditorium thanks to the map of the school Tokimi gave her. Once inside Maria finds further proof of the segregation that goes on between course 1 and course 2 students when she notices they're all sitting apart from each other one way for another. Examples of such seating differences consist of students of both courses sitting in different sections, sitting in the front/back of each section, and even row by row. Maria herself is one of the few students here that had the guts to sit among students of the opposite course._

"It's not as if there's required seating, so sit where you want you fools." Maria thought referring to both her fellow Course 2 students and the Course 1 students.

_Though Maria has been trained in the social graces expected of someone from her kind of family….. she lacks the ability to notice or chooses to ignore the social cues given off by others. For example she fails to pay any heed to the Course 1 students around her that want her to sit somewhere else._

"Excuse me Ms. Course 2 Student I'm sorry for bothering you, but could you please move?" a male Course 1 student asked.

"I suppose you're going to give me the speech about how Course 2 students are sacrificial lambs compared to Course 1 students if I don't move aren't you? Well tough luck because I'm not going anywhere." Maria said in adamant defiance of this school's social norms.

"Wha… look lady I don't deny there are a lot of douches like that here, but I'm not one of them. I'm only asking because you're sitting next to my brother, and I wanted to sit next to him for the opening ceremony. Of course if you still won't move I'll just sit somewhere else, but I'd appreciate it if you did." the male course 1 student explained as he felt insulted by what Maria said.

"Why didn't you just say so? Very well then." Maria said as she got up from her seat.

"Those course 2 fools need to learn their place." the brother of the course 1 student said as Maria walked away.

"Shut up you idiot. You're only going to make the existing animosity worse by talking like that." the male course 1 student said as he slapped his brother on the back of the neck.

"Ouch… What was that for?" the course 1 student asked.

"A slap to the face would be humiliating, but a slap to the back of the neck is a wakeup call. If you don't treat people with respect it's only going to bite you in the ass later." The male course 1 student said as he disciplined his brother.

_Maria sat down with a group of course 2 students that were sitting in the section directly to her right of where she was before. When she actually sat down with them a few of the other course 2 students sitting around her were giving her strange looks for some reason. _

"Lady… you are like my hero." A course 2 student whispers to Maria out of admiration.

"How am I your hero? And why is everyone around me starting at me?" Maria asks due to not seeing the reason.

"Most of us here are second year students who has been the victim of Course 1 student bullying, so you can imagine our surprise at seeing a freshman nonchalantly stand up to one." the course 2 student explained.

"I wasn't standing up for myself." Maria retorts.

"What do you mean?" the course 2 student asked.

"I simply didn't want to move, but I chose to do so because I understand the value of family. I'm not someone worthy of being a hero… if anything I'm nothing more than a murderer." Maria explained.

"You have a really stoic loner personality you know that? Say after school's over do you want to….." the course 2 student was saying as he was presumably about to ask Maria out.

"No I'm not interested. It's nothing personal, but as soon as school ends I'll be busy unpacking my things." Maria bluntly answered though she wishes she could have done so in a way that didn't make her seem cold hearted.

_Before the male course 2 student Maria was talking to could respond they along with all of the other students here were silenced by the sound of multiple speakers being turned on. Maria looked to the center of the auditorium and found a male course 1 student standing on center stage. Though it was hard to tell from a distance he appeared to be about 6 inches shorter than Maria, with an olive complexion, messy blood red hair, a medium build, and green eyes._

"Welcome one and all you new and old students of Third High. For you first years and transfer students who don't know me….. my name is Drake Ryuusei. I'm a 3rd year student, the chairmen of the Public Morals Committee, and the occasional master of ceremonies for internal school events such as this." Drake said with a smile as he spoke into the microphone he was holding in his left hand.

"He may really be the nice guy that his smile implies, but the atmosphere he's giving off… this Drake Ryuusei is strong very strong." Maria thought as she rested her interlocked fingers on her legs.

"To be honest I'd like to go off on my own speech about the start of the new school year, but I'll leave that role to its assigned person. Now speaking for this year's graduating class the 3rd year representative and president of the student council Youichi Shimada." Drake announced.

_And so there he is Youichi Shimada, the very same man that Maria easily or rather will easily defeat soon enough. Contrary to the angered and arrogant look he will have, the Youichi of the now has a calm stern expression on his face not unlike that of Juumonji Katsuo._

"Starting with the same words my compatriot did. For you first years and transfer students who don't know me I'm Youichi Shimada, another 3rd year student and student council president of 3rd High." Youichi announced.

"Strange… this guy doesn't appear to be all that strong, and yet the upperclassmen are looking at him in awe. Is he simply holding back by that much? Or has he gained their respect through some other method?" Maria thought.

"Unlike my friend Drake I'm not one for long speeches, and I'm sure you all have things to do before the start of class so I'll keep things short. All of you have chosen to attend 3rd High whether it be out of need, out of want, or out of force however regardless I expect all of you new students and transfer students to live up to the expectations 3rd High. I also know that some of you didn't come here to learn modern magic simply to fight as I'm also sure you all have your own goals, but make no mistake 3rd High specializes in the practical application of magic in a combat situation. Enjoy your time here when you can new students, but like commanders and their soldiers in the field I expect discipline, self-control, and swift adaptability from you all throughout your 3 years at the Martial Academy." Youichi said as he finished his speech.

* * *

_And with that it was time for the representative of the freshmen class to give his speech, of which wasn't anything fancy. It was just a short bit about how those with the ability to use magic have a responsibility to use their powers to serve that which is best in us and not the most base. The auditorium cleared out shortly thereafter as it was time for the first day of school to officially begin. Speaking of which, Maria walks carefully through the hallways in order to avoid a repeat of the incident in the morning as she checks the map given to her for the location of her classroom._

"Let's see… if I'm reading this map of the school correctly then room 1-F should be the first door on my right coming down this next hallway." Maria thought.

_Unfortunately Maria's fate would be to repeat this morning's incident despite her preparations not to._

"Ah here it arghh….." a random male student said as he and Maria unwittingly bumped into each other due to the both of them being distracted by the maps in their hand.

_If the early morning was the calm before the storm for Maria, then perhaps this accidental encounter is the first dark cloud in the sky. There was enough strength in their contact where both Maria and this unknown student were knocked off balance and Maria would have been able to regain her balance on her own, however before she could even make the motions the young man she bumped into caught her by grabbing her arm with one hand and placed his hand around her lower back with the other._

"Impossible….. he reacted faster than me? His reflexes are really good." Maria thought as she was caught off guard by being put into the position of a damsel in distress.

"Are you alright? Shoot, I'm sorry I should have paid better attention to where I was going." The male student said.

_This young man is a fellow first year Course 2 student with an olive skin complexion, dark red eyes, short wild black hair, his eyes are a little smaller than the average teen, and he happens to be only a couple of inches taller than Maria.._

"Déjà vu." Maria mumbles.

"Sorry what?" Maria's proverbial knight in shining armor said due to being confused by her choice of words.

"It's nothing. In any case though I appreciate the action I didn't need your help. Also, could you please take your hand of my rear before move it for you?" Maria asked as she reached for one of her bladeless hilts with her free hand.

"Huh…. ohhhhhh…. Arghhhh sorry sorry I didn't mean to do that." the male student said as he raised his hands to his sides as if he was about to be arrested he realized where he was touching.

"Accidents happen so don't worry about, but do it again….. well just don't." Maria said to this unnamed student in an uninterested tone while adding a very subtle threat of bodily harm.

"Okay…. so um what classroom have you been assigned to?" the unnamed Course 2 student asked if only to break the sheer amount of anxiety he's feeling.

"I've been assigned to this class. What about you?" Maria retorts as she points to the 1-F sign hanging above her.

"I've been assigned to the same room…. well let me get the door for you." the unnamed Course 2 student said as he slid the door open.

_As if by some stroke of luck, once Maria walks into the classroom she realizes that a 3__rd__ of the Course 2 students she was sitting with before the start of the opening ceremony were in her class. Some pay her heed because they heard about how she stood up to a Course 1 student, others due to acknowledging the rarity of a foreign student when it comes to magical study, and the remainder simple because they were attracted to the sound of an opening door. In any case it doesn't take Maria and the boy behind her to find a couple of available seats, of which by some stroke of luck also happen to be right next to each other._

"So um what's your….. oh wait I need to introduce myself first." The unnamed Course 2 student said as he started to bumble up his sentence.

"Just stop talking, take a moment to catch your breath, and relax. Otherwise you're going to look like an idiot." Maria said in a blunt tone to her unnerved seat neighbor.

"Right….. okay….. I'm Kosaku Imada. What's your name?" Kosaku asked as he takes Maria's advice to heart and tries to relax.

"Maria C. Alcott… wait you're the guy that placed 20th in the theoretical portion of the entrance exam. What are you doing here?" Maria asked due to recognizing the name from when the results of the entrance exam were posted on the school's website.

"By 'here' I take it you mean as a Course 2 student. Well to answer your question; I got so nervous during the entrance exam that I couldn't concentrate on altering the eidos of the ball that they had us all move, but man was I happy since I didn't end up causing a scene like my sister. Still… I can't believe she managed to get into Course 1 despite that." Kosaku explained.

"You have a sister?" Maria curiously inquired.

"Older twin sister to be exact, but yeah I do. Anyways, apparently she put so much power into a spell that she accidently forced the rubber ball through a wall of one of those little plastic tunnels and almost hit someone with it." Kosaku answered.

"Did that someone get hurt? Or anyone for that matter?" Maria asks due to having a hunch that this relates to what happened during her practical test.

"Thankfully no one did. According to my sister… the girl the ball was about to hit stopped it with one of her own spells. She felt so guilty about it that she told me she wanted to apologize to the girl as soon as she found her." Kosaku explained.

"Well good lu….. and so class finally begins." Maria was saying as she suddenly switched topics when the bell started to ring mid-sentence.

_Maria decided to resume reading her manga seeing as how Course 2 students for the most part don't get any kind of personal instruction from magical teachers, but she was forced to change those plans with these following events._

"Hey….. what's a teacher doing here?" one of Maria's seat neighbors whispered to a friend.

_Because of the above reason Maria can't help but look up out of curiosity, and the apparent teacher everyone started murmuring about turned out to be Mr. Fukuhara from her entrance exam._

"Before any of you get the wrong idea….. no you're not getting any personal instruction nor am I your homeroom teacher. The only homeroom teachers we have are the magical instructors and they're for the Course 1 students only. A few of us extra teachers volunteered to go to all of the first year Course 2 students and explain some of the school's policies in a bit more detail. The Course 1 students will be getting the same speech from their homeroom teachers. Please hold off on any questions until after I'm done." Mr. Fukuhara tells the class.

"I got my hope up for nothing. How amusing." Maria thought as she decided to put away the book she was reading.

_Mr. Fukuhara's explanation of 3__rd__ High's more complex policies turned out to be surprisingly straight forward. He spends only 25 minutes explaining those policies and another 15 walking Maria along with the other first year students in her class through the process of signing up for some of the elective courses offered at 3__rd__ High._

"So to summarize unless a teacher is willing to spend their personal time you're on your own for all classes that involve the use of magic. Clubs, Course 1 students, and Course 2 students get priority in that order for the reservation of the school's training facilities for personal practice but once you get that reservation no one can kick you out save for the student council; however even then they have to have a good reason. You'll be placed with your classmates for nearly all of your lessons save for those of you taking the AP version of certain standardized courses we have to teach you and other certain electives. With said exception there's a possibility you'll end up rubbing shoulders with a few Course 1 students, so I expect you to be on your best behavior. Speaking of which if you've finished signing up for electives then you're free to leave, but don't be late for your next class." Mr. Mr. Fukuhara said as he concluded his long winded speech about school polices.

"Time to go I suppose." Maria thought as she, Kosaku, and three of her other classmates got out of their seats and started walking for the door.

"Finally, I have a message for you all before I move on. Some of you will be insulted and ridiculed for being Course 2 students, so if you don't like show them what all of their fancy instruction is really worth by becoming stronger than them." Mr. Fukuhara said as he decided to give both the students about to leave and the ones still here an inspiring message to begin the year with.

"What are you going to do with the last… 13 minutes of class?" Kosaku curiously inquired as he checks the watch on his left wrist hidden by the sleeve of his blazer.

"I don't know. What about you?" Maria retorts.

"Probably wait for my sister outside of her classroom, and walk to our next class together. You see we decided to take one elective course together so we have something to talk about, and by some fluke of luck we happen to get the same class. What are you going to do?" Kosaku answered.

"I don't know yet." Maria said as she started to walk away half way through Kosaku's explanation without him noticing.

"You had to accidently grab that part when you tried to help her didn't you Kosaku? Great you somehow just made a girl you just met hate you." Kosaku thought.

* * *

_Maria spends the remainder of her fairly earned free time by continuing to read the same manga she has been since this morning while resting hillside in the school's courtyard, and then shortly thereafter she moves onto her next class once the school bell starts to ring. Speaking of which, Maria's next class is one of the few elective courses that Mr. Fukuhara mentioned there being a chance of an integrated roster between Course 1 and Course 2 students. The class itself happens to be Home Economics of all things, of which is somewhat ironic given Maria's ice queen like personality._

"Either the teacher came up with an interesting seating arrangement or the relationship between students of both courses is strained even here." Maria thought while looking for an open seat as she noticed that like with the opening ceremony Course 1 and Course 2 students were sitting together with their own kind.

"Oh over here Maria!" a female student yelled.

_Maria was caught off guard with someone calling for her attention by name, so she turned in the direction that the voice came from and found that she was talking to the very same girl that almost accidently whaled her with a rubber ball during the entrance exam._

"So…. how was your first class?" the female student that called Maria over asks out of curiosity.

_Our heroine paid no attention to this girl's appearance back then since she was more interested both in her own exam and in the book she happened to be reading at the time, but now Maria can see that this girl despite the earlier near mishap managed to make into Course 1. Ignoring the odd looks students of both Courses are giving her; Maria takes not of the fact that this girl has lighter than average olive skin complexion one would normally expect of the concept, dark red eyes, long wild waist length black hair, her eyes are a little smaller than that of the Japanese average youth, and this girl is only a couple of inches taller than Maria._

"Normal and I'm sorry for how this will sound but who are you?" Maria inquired as she realizes thatthe seat next to this girl happened to be the only open one left.

"Didn't you hear my name when they called it during the entrance exam?" this female Course 1 student asked as she was surprised by the fact that Maria didn't already know it.

"Déjà vu again." Maria quietly mumbled.

"What was that?" the female Course 1 student asked due to at least partially overhearing what Maria had said.

"It's nothing, but at any rate I wasn't really paying attention to any of the others." Maria answered in a blunt manner.

"More interested in your own test then, but my name is Mae Imada just so you know." Mae said again as if she and Maria had been friends for you.

"Would your…." Maria was saying before she was rendered silent due to the classroom door being slid open with a great deal of force.

"Listen up and sit down because class is about to start. My name is Yosuke Dojima, and I'll be your Home Economics teacher for the year. I know I have an intense atmosphere, but I do want this class to be enjoyable. Before we begin, do any of you have any questions?" Dojima-sensei said as he walks into the room carrying the atmosphere of a veteran soldier.

_At that moment every student in the class raised their hands each with their own questions to ask Dojima-sensei._

"Any questions that don't involve why a guy is teaching a Home Economics class instead of a girl?" Dojima-sensei asks the class.

_Every student in the class including Maria put their hands back down as if it was all part of some strange cliché joke._

"I won't waste time going over the course syllabus since it'll be emailed to all of you, so I'll get straight to the point with an in-class assignment." Dojima-sensei announced.

"So soon?" a surprised Course 2 student asked.

"That's what they get for being a Weed… if they can't even handle something like this then it's a miracle that they got into the school at all." one of the Course 1 students in this class whispered to a friend.

"You there shut it! In this class your magic ability means absolutely nothing, so don't bring it up again. Listen up… there are three reasons that this class is offered at 3rd High. The first is to give you a better appreciation of life as it was before the existence of magic was public knowledge, of which is why you see a variety of old school cooking tools. The second is that there's always the possibility any of you could lose your ability to use magic, so this class if one of the few offered in order to teach you some skills that allow you to function in society should that happen. The third reason is to improve the dexterity in your hands because the ability to quickly press a complex series of buttons on your CADs could make the difference between whether or not you lose a leg or your life!" Dojima-sensei yelled.

_Dojima-sensei claims that he means for the class to be fun for everyone, however the atmosphere he gives off indicates that he'll act like a hard core drill sergeant. In any case only time will tell, and it appears the class assignment will be something related to cooking given the pink frilly "Kiss the Cook" sign that he has no trouble wearing._

"You should be seeing the recipe we're going to do on your screens now. Don't worry this assignment won't be graded." Dojima-sensei informed as he pressed a few buttons on the terminal at his desk.

"A cinnamon roll huh? Wow I haven't made one of those in a while." Mae mumbled as she read the recipe on the screen she had to share with Maria.

"Don't just start grabbing ingredients out of the fridge and the pantry. I'm going to quickly how you how to prepare the batter. Now once again… are there any questions before we begin?" Dojima-sensei asks his class.

"Oh this isn't good." Maria mumbled.

"What isn't good?" Mae curiously inquired.

"I can speak Japanese fluently, but I can only read every other word. I suppose I'll just have to pay special attention to his demonstration." Maria answered.

"But the cover of that book you were reading was in Japanese. How could you read it if that's the case?" Mae asked.

"Because only the front and back covers were in Japanese. Everything else was written in English." Marie explained.

_30 minutes later._

"And after you sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top take this spatula and carefully spread the warm cream all over it. Feel free to use any of the extra ingredients in the classroom to add a personal touch, but don't overdo it as I still have 2 more classes to teach." Dojima-sensei explained.

"Did you get all of that?" Mae asks.

"Yes. If you don't mind my asking, why are you taking a Home Economics class? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Maria curiously asked.

"Well it's a little embarrassing, but….. ummmmm well my mother said and I quote 'I won't let my daughter become a bride without having her being able to do at least basic housework'." Mae said as she sorted out various measuring implements.

"Bad at house work?" Maria inquired as she looks through drawers for a bowl and a whisk.

"My brother once got on his knees and begged me to stop helping him clean. Why are you taking this class then?" Mae retorts.

"For similar reasons as you only the message came from my grandfather." Maria said as she found stating her reason just as embarrassing as it was for Mae while looking through several shelves of ingredients in labeled silver containers.

"Wait, don't open that container. That's the kanji for chili powder. The baking powder is the container to the left of it." Mae said in an urgent manner.

"You have my thanks, but I realized that just before you pointed it out to me. I simply accidently grabbed the wrong container." Maria said as attempts to cover her blunder with a false sense of preparedness.

"Oh sorry. Could you pass me an extra whisk? I forgot to… oh thanks." Mae was saying when Maria almost immediately passes her a whisk due to noticing that she didn't already have one.

"I always try and keep two of everything on my person, but we really should be getting to work." Maria points out.

_Both the Course 1 and Course 2 students were hard at work on an assignment actually didn't really matter much for their grades. They would probably never realize it or never admit it if they did, but for a moment all of the students forgot about the class difference and were having fun cooking together like ordinary teens. Despite this, the stronger or at least the wiser students new that this moment of peace would come to an end the moment the bell rang. At any rate with only 30 minutes to go and all of the dishes washed it was time for Dojima-sensei to judge everyone's hard work. He said he would give everyone a letter grade equivalent to the quality of their work, but he also had to remind the class that he was doing so simply to give everyone an idea of where they stand and that this wouldn't count against their grades. Anyways, Dojima-sensei went from student to student in no particular order grading their work up until Mae, Maria, and a couple of other students remained._

"Did you put anything special in or on yours?" Mae curiously asks.

"No. Since I only have a partial familiarity with the Japanese language… I thought I'd just stick to the recipe." Maria answered.

"Ah… so did I seeing as how like with house chores cooking isn't exactly my forte." Mae informed.

"The last one was a Course 2 student's work, so let's see how you do as a Course 1 student Ms. Imada." Dojima-sensei said as he decides to taste test Mae's cinnamon roll next.

_When Dojima-sensei removed the steel cover that he recommended that the students use while preparing their pastries to keep them warm, he among a few of the other students here were surprised that Mae's didn't look very much like a cinnamon roll at all. It didn't evenly rise and parts of it still look a little uncooked, however one shouldn't forget the saying that one should not judge a book by its cover either._

"Oh wow the bread of the pastry is practically melting in my mouth, and the cinnamon coated cream mixture is tantalizing on the tounge. If I was actually grading this I'd give you a B+, however if it wasn't for the appearance I'd give it an A." Dojima-sensei said as he complimented Mae on her hard work.

"Hopefully mine will be just as good then, so there's nothing to do it but do it." Maria thought.

"Alright then Ms. Alcott let's see if you can leave us off with a strong note before the bell rings for lunch." Dojima-sensei said.

"Very well." Maria said as she removed the cover over her cinnamon roll.

_Contrary to the appearance of Mae's undercooked cinnamon roll; Maria's looks as though if it was a work of art. The cinnamon has been carefully baked into and placed on the roll that it takes a nice dark shade of brown like a freshly baked loaf of bread. The cream was placed on the cinnamon roll in such a way that if gives its consumer the initial impression that they're eating into a nice warm sundae. Finally, once more the bread portion has been carefully brushed with melted butter giving it the look of a freshly waxed car._

"Are you sure you should be in this class? This cinnamon roll looks as though you've taken some advanced classes." Dojima-sensei asked.

"I've actually only taken a few beginner's cooking courses outside of school so yes I'm sure; however please go ahead and try it." Maria answered in her normal blunt tone.

"Don't mind if…" Dojima-sensei was saying when he suddenly became silent the moment he stuck a piece of Maria's cinnamon roll in her mouth.

"Is something wrong?" Maria asked as she found the sudden silence a little disturbing.

"Excuse me." Dojima-sensei said as he starting walking towards the closest sink.

_At first Dojima-sensei walked with a calm disciplined manner towards the sink, however he started guzzling down water from the faucet as if he'd been wandering the desert without it for weeks._

"How much salt did you pour into your batter before baking? Only the prescribed amount, but I did pour in a lot of sugar from this container." Maria said as she holds a silver container of what she thinks to be sugar in her hand.

"That's kosher salt." Dojima-sensei pointed out.

"Oh so it is. In that case I apologize for causing you discomfort sensei. While I can speak Japanese fluently… reading it is something I'm still working on. Still don't make an exception for me just because of my weakness, and tell me how you would have graded me if this assignment counted." Maria said.

"If it wasn't for your issue when it comes to reading in our language I'm sure it would have tasted great and this presentation is impressive, but I can't simply grade on what would have been so I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to give you a D-." Dojima-sensei said after taking a few moments to consider other factors.

"As you wish." Maria said.

"What I tell you? You can't expect much of Course 2 students." a Course 1 student whispered.

"Oh it seems it's time for lunch. Alright everyone feel free to give your hard work to a friend or save it for later, and be sure to enjoy your lunch before afternoon classes start." Dojima-sensei said as the students in his class started to steadily file out of the room.

* * *

_While Maria walked down the hallway she saw that her fellow first years and upperclassmen were either on their way to the cafeteria, club meetings, and or other congregational areas of the school. Our heroine planned to eat alone, however her new "friend" and I use the term loosely seemed to have other plans._

"Do you have any plans for lunch?" Mae inquired.

"Save for eating what I just made instead of cafeteria food…. no I don't have any plans." Maria answered.

"Ah in that case do you mind if my brother and I join you?" Mae inquired.

"If there happens to be two open seats at whatever table I'm sitting at then feel free." Maria answered signaling that she doesn't want the company, but is at least willing to tolerate it.

"Great thanks." Mae happily said.

"Oh, I almost forgot that I wanted to ask you something." Maria said.

"What?" Mae curiously asked.

"Would your brother happen to be named Kosaku Imada?" Maria asks.

"You've met my brother?" Mae inquired as she was surprised by Maria's question.

"He's in the same class as me and he brought up what happened during the entrance exam, but he didn't mention names though I still had a hunch that he was referring to you." Maria explained.

"Well how about that." Mae mumbled as she found Maria's explanation a little amusing.

_Maria's Home Economics class was located near 3__rd__ High's cafeteria in order to make resupplying the class's food stores much easier, and it was for that very reason that the cafeteria was only half-full of students by the time Maria and Mae got there._

"I can't believe that there are this many open seats, and at the start of lunch too." Mae said out of amazement.

"It's not that surprising since our class is only a 4 minute walk away." Maria pointed out.

"Over here Mae!" Kosaku yelled while waving his hands in order to get his sister's attention.

"I'll be over there in a second Kosaku!" Mae yelled in response to her brother's efforts.

_Kosaku was just as surprised as he was to see Mae with Maria a girl he just met as was when his sister explained that Maria was the one who stopped her out of control spell wind saber. If only to get a moment to herself Maria volunteered to buy drinks for the group from a nearby vending machine. _

"I can't believe you can use an A class spell. If I'm recalling things correctly there are only a few high school level magicians that can do such a thing. I know you asked me about my test, but how come you're not in Course 1? Oh and thanks for the tea." Kosaku curiously inquired.

_Mae knew Kosaku didn't mean anything bad by it, but she couldn't help but look at Maria given what happened during the entrance exam and wonder if Maria would explain or if she should tell her brother to drop the issue._

"An unexpected obstacle in the practical portion of the exam triggered a panic/anxiety attack, of which was the result of a psychological trauma I suffered 3 years ago. I don't want to talk about it, so leave it at that." Maria explained.

"Say no more. You don't need to tell us what happened to you, but my sister and I understand trauma. You see… we lost our parents 3 years ago during the attempted invasion of Okinawa." Kosaku explained after glancing at his sister as if seeking her approval as to whether or not to tell the story.

"We were running for safety, somehow ended up on the beach near a tall cliff, and were almost killed by one of the few GAA soldiers still on Okinawa." Mae said as she decided to continue the story.

"This is your personal trauma. You don't need to tell me this." Maria said as the story of these twins made her uncomfortable for some reason.

"But now that we've started please let us finish. Just when we thought it was all going to end a bright light flew out from a nearby cliff and obliterated the GAA fleet to the point where there were only a couple of ships still afloat by some miracle." Mae explained.

"The soldier that was about to kill us left ran away with what was left of his friends after what we all saw…. Destructive power that could only be caused by a Strategic Class Magician." Kosaku said as he finished their shared story.

"Oh I just noticed that we're one of the only few groups of Course 1 and Course 2 students sitting together." Maria mumbled aloud.

"Actually now that you mention it you're right." Kosaku said as he took note of Maria's discovery.

"But don't let that or our story get you down, and let's enjoy our lunch." Mae followed.

"Right." Maria said out of relief that the subject was finally going to change.

"I still can't believe you're eating that cinnamon roll." Mae pointed out.

"There's no point in letting it go to waste." Maria retorts as she takes bite after bight from her failed dish.

"In that case do you mind if I try a bite?" Kosaku respectfully asks.

"I wouldn't recommend it." Mae said as she tried to sway her brother from her current course of action.

"Oh it can't be as bad as your cooking." Kosaku retorts.

"Don't say that your sister didn't warn you." Maria tells Kosaku in a serious tone.

_At first Kosaku chewed on the super salty cinnamon roll like it wasn't even the slightest problem, however it turns out that the saltiness had a delayed effect on him. The moment that effect started to kick in Kosaku guzzled down his own drink, his sister's, and Maria's within seconds like how Dojima-sensei was guzzling water out of a faucet._

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kosaku asks after he regains his composure.

"Yes." Maria answered.

"It's just that I don't know if I should be impressed or disturbed by the fact that you can eat this with a straight face." Kosaku said out of amazement.

"Wow Maria you really deserve to be a Course 1 student after all if you can handle this with no effort at all." Mae said with equivalent amazement to that of her brother.

"I don't taste anything wrong with it." Maria retorts as she continued with eating her cinnamon roll.

"I mean geez….. what do you have no sense of taste or something?" Kosaku inquired.

"No I don't." Maria answered.

"Huh?" a surprised Mae and Kosaku asked.

"You two heard me. In addition to only being able to so and so read Japanese I also have little to no sense of taste." Maria explained.

"Is it for the same reason you reacted that way during the practical exam?" Maria inquired out of concern.

"No it was the result of something my father tried to force me to go through with as a child. I would have been killed if my grampa didn't find out what he was doing and stop him, so like the trauma I suffered 3 years ago I don't want to talk about it." Maria explained.

"Oh shoot look I'm sorry, and I didn't mean to bring up any bad feeling." Kosaku said out of guilt.

"That's interesting to hear from someone who tried to grab my rear. No rhyme intended." Maria pointed out.

"Kosaku….. exactly what is she talking about?" Mae asks her brother as she goes into a pervert revenge mode for Maria, however she does so not on her behalf.

"It was just an accident I swear. I didn't do it on purpose." Kosaku said as he seemed like he was pleading for his life.

"If that's all it is then I'll leave it alone." Mae said as she decides to drop the issue much to Kosaku's relief.

"Kanji Tatsumi…" Maria suddenly and quietly blurted out.

"Someone you know?" Mae curiously asks due to overhearing what Maria said.

"Wha… oh no… It's just that Dojima-sensei reminded me of a character from an early 21st century video game, but I couldn't place the name until just now." Maria explained.

"Wow you're really a total otaku aren't you?" Mae asks in a blunt manner.

"My great grandfather and great great grandfather developed many of the spells that my family uses today by studying the techniques of various videogame and anime characters. This was all achieved through carefully done trial and error, of which as a result you'll find that a third of my family is what you call an otaku." Maria explained.

"Say um… this may be a bad time to point this out, but have either of you noticed that the other students are sitting several tables away from us in an almost perfect circle." Kosaku pointed out.

"You're just noticing it now?" Maria said indicating that she was aware of the growing isolation the whole time.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Mae asks in response.

"I had no reason to." Maria answered.

"Cough….. ahem." A female student said in a condescending tone in order to get Mae, Kosaku, and Maria's attention.

* * *

_When the three musketeers turned to face the person who had gotten their attention they found out that she wasn't alone, and was with a small group consisting of mostly upperclassmen along with a 3 or 4 first year students._

"What do you want? In case you can't tell we're in the middle of lunch." Maria said to this interloper in a rather rude manner.

"Why you…... no forget it. I'm willing to let that go since you three are clearly first years." The female student who got their attention said.

"Then you're one of those bigots who believe Course 1 and Course 2 students should be kept separate unless absolutely necessary." Maria said to this Course 1 student though with the unintentional effect of pissing her off.

_This woman has an attractive olive complexion, faded if not pale orange angular eyes, slick dark grey hair; she has a flat nose, thin lips, she's is 5'10" with a petite frame like Maria, and like how our heroine previously mentioned this woman is one of 3__rd__ High's elite Course 1 students._

"So this one is probably fits the Alpha Bitch trope." Maria thought.

"Look I don't care who the Course 1s or the Course 2 whelps hang out with, but that's not why I'm here." this Course 1 student said.

"In that case why are you here?" Maria inquired.

"I'll be polite and introduce myself. My name is Misa Taguchi, and you're sitting at my table." Misa explained.

"What's so special about this one table?" Maria can't help but ask out of curiosity.

"Taguchi…. Where have I heard that name before?" Kosaku thought.

"What's so spe….. no forget it I'm not going to get angry. One of you please explain it." Misa orders one of her goons as she resists the urge to snap into a rage in front of Maria.

"First of all Lady Taguchi's family has sat on the very table you're sitting on now as students at 3rd High ever since it first opened its doors. Secondly this table is located in an optimal position in the cafeteria due to being closest to the vending machine that serves the coldest drinks in the school, it's also closest to the start of the food line in the rare occasion that a member of the Taguchi family actually eats the school food, and finally one lunch ends it is also one of the closest tables to the cafeteria's exit." one of Misa's goons explained as if reciting from memory.

"Ah I remember where I've heard your name before. The Taguchi family controls 2 of the major ports and half of the shipping companies here in Kanazawa. They're a prominent family that's also helped fund 3rd High." Kosaku said as he had a sudden realization.

"I'm glad that at least one person recognizes their betters." Misa said out of arrogance.

"She's definitely not that strong, and in fact I'd say form the way the wind blows around her that this Misa just barely made it into Course 1." Maria thought.

"Come on Mae we should probably sit somewhere else. We wouldn't want to cause a problem on our first day of school." Kosaku suggested.

"Alright I guess I'll see you later then Maria." Mae said as she went along with her brother's suggestion while having a hunch that Maria wasn't going to easily give up her seat.

"You're friends seem to have gotten the message. Or you going to get up willingly or am I going to have to press the issue? Well….. what's your answer?" Maria asks as her good squad standing behind her braces themselves for a potential fight.

_However the "Crimson Prince" Masaki Ichijou and the "Cardinal George" Kichijouji Shinkurou walked into the cafeteria in order to satisfy their own hunger, not initially noticing what was going on nearby, and before Maria could give an answer to Misa's inquisition._

"Thanks for helping me sort out all of that data Masaki. I really appreciate it." Kichijouji said to his friend.

"It's no problem George, but man am I hungry. It might end up being close, but if we don't line up now there's no way we'll be able to get anything before lunch ends." Masaki pointed out.

"Not to worry. I asked one of the 3rd year students who also works in the lab with me as a lab assistant to get something for us. He should be in this mess somewhere." Kichijouji revealed as he scans the crowd of students for said lab assistant.

"Well thanks for that George." Masaki gratefully said.

_It didn't take Kichijouji to find the person that had some food ready for himself and his friend, but before they could even walk over to the table to enjoy it their attention was grabbed by a small group of students running towards a particular section of the cafeteria._

"You there, what's going on?" Masaki asks as he stops one of the students.

"A fight is breaking out between some Course 2 freshmen and Taguchi-san." The student that Masaki stopped said before resuming his running pace.

"George, do you know who this Taguchi-san is?" Masaki curiously asks.

"They must be referring to Misa Taguchi. Her family is one of the secondary sponsors for the lab where I work. They have a lot of influence here and throughout the city, to which Taguchi-san has been known to abuse." Kichijouji explained.

"I've heard of a dinner show, but why don't we check out this lunch show George?" Masaki suggests.

"You're not seriously considering intervening are you? Granted you can easily put them all down, but you risk getting in trouble." Kichijouji seriously inquired.

"Oh course not. I know it's not my responsibility, but given what you've told me about this girl's family I'm curious about whoever had the guts to stand up to her." Masaki explained.

"Then I guess things will be interesting after all." Kichijouji said.

_Thanks to the reputation that these two high-class magicians have, it didn't take them very long for them to force their way to the front of the crowd. They saw Misa's goons ready to back up their boss, Misa herself clearly angered, and Maria still calmly sitting at the lunch table Misa wants._

"Masaki, isn't that the girl you bumped into this morning?" Kichijouji inquired.

"Yeah she must be the one that angered Taguchi-san, and given the look on her face I doubt that this won't break out into a fight." Masaki answered.

"What did you say?!" Misa yells out of anger.

"Must I really repeat myself? Very well, and I'll even go into more detail so even someone as weak as you can understand. This bench is property that belongs to the school and not you. Furthermore according to 3rd High's official guidelines only school clubs managing approved events, the public morals committee, and the student council have the authority to make me vacate this seat. You don't appear to be party of either of those three, so therefore you have no official authority over me." Maria explained in great detail in her normal ice queen like demeanor.

"How dare you call me weak!?" Misa yelled as she was clearly a stone throw away from blowing a gasket.

"I called you weak because that's exactly what you are. You don't have the air of someone who either possesses a great deal of natural magic ability or the experience that comes with fighting many battles." Maria coldly pointed out.

"Oh she's gone too far." Kichijouji pointed out.

"Yup, and we should probably back up a few feet just in case." Masaki suggested.

"That's it you Course 2 bitch! I was willing to be nice, but now I'll put you in your place." Misa said as she pulls up her right sleeve revealing an armband type CAD.

_Everyone who watched this fight were immediately drawn to the light generated by the generation of Misa's activation sequence, but before she could absorb it back within herself Misa's arm was forcibly raised in the air as if drawn their by some unforeseen force. The observers then immediately turned towards Maria who had stretched out her left arm._

"What the…. what's going on?" Misa demanded to know as she attempts to free her arm from the force that was containing it.

"Type B containment spell Gravity Cuffs. I won't waste your time by explaining the exact science behind the spell, but to start if you'll please take a look at your right hand." Maria pointed out.

_Some of the onlookers were too far away to see exactly what Maria was referring to, but what Misa and everyone else saw was a pencil that was somehow floating in mid air._

"What the….. how are you doing… wait why am I being pulled away?" Misa demands to know as she slowly starts being pulled from where she stands.

"By using an inanimate object as a facsimile for the Earth's core, and tapping into the gravity it generates I create a gravitational field around said facsimile and draw any object within the field to its centermost point. This spell is one of the signature techniques taught to only members of my family, but as for why you're slowly moving….. well I have yet to master the technique and as a result you or rather the pencil is orbiting the Earth much like the moon." Maria explained.

"Well let me down!" Misa ordered as if she thought Maria would listen.

"It's rude to interrupt someone while they're still speaking. Ahem… the members of my family who have mastered this spell can stop the movement completely, but don't worry that pencil will break momentarily under the stress." Maria explained as she admitted her own weakness.

_And as Maria said the pencil did indeed collapse causing Misa to drop to one knee from the shock of it. She then stretches her arm to make sure as to whether or not there was any damage._

"Don't worry you'll just be sore after a couple hours." Maria informed.

"Spells that manipulate the laws of gravity are extraordinarily advanced, so to be able to do so with ease must mean she's way above the level of a Course 2 student. Still…. there's no way she could have prepared the activation sequence for a spell that complex so quickly." Kichijouji said as he experiences a combination of surprise and admiration.

"Then there's only one explanation. She knew that this would likely lead to a fight and started to prepare an activation sequence in advance. I should have noticed it beforehand, but I'm ashamed to admit that I got distracted by their argument." Masaki explained.

"How dare you attack me!" Misa yelled.

"I merely responded in self defense. Now I suggest you drop the argument and let me finish my lunch in peace." Maria said.

"Oh like hell I will now!" Misa yelled.

"Boss lady what should we do now?" one of Misa's goons asked.

"Don't just stand there like a bunch of idiots! Get her now!" Misa ordered.

_As Maria was surrounded by eight of Misa's goons she had already started already started to prepare another activation sequence, but for some reason she suddenly canceled it and decided to cover her ears with both hands._

"What is she…. George, cover your ears now!" Masaki urgently said.

"I already noticed." Kichijouji said as both he and Masaki sensed a magician activating their own spell from outside this cafeteria shaped battlefield.

_All of a sudden a loud noise like nails scratching a chalkboard pierced the cafeteria causing both the guilty party and the innocent onlookers to cry out in pain. For Masaki, Kichijouji, and Maria the pain of this sound attack was lessened since they covered their ears but it was still painful none the less._

"That's enough! By my authority as chairman of the public morals committee, I hear by order you to cease and desist! If you refuse to comply I will turn up the volume!" Drake yelled as he and 4 other members of the public morals committee were standing in the doorway of one of the cafeteria's entrance.

_Maria decided to raise her hands in surrender, however it seems Misa and her goons will not be as compliant._

"What? But she was the one who casted a spell first!" Misa yelled as she tried to deflect blame on Maria.

"I happened to be on phone duty in the committee room when I received a call from one of the new students that you bullying a trio of freshmen. In addition a couple of witnesses told me before I intervened that this other girl responded in self defense, so your family's name means nothing here Misa Taguchi. You and…. Maria correct?" Drake asks due to being unsure of Maria's identity.

"That's correct." Maria answered.

"Then as I was saying… Misa Taguchi and you Maria Alcott will follow me back to the committee room where I'll hear both sides of your story, and depending on it I'll recommend the appropriate punishment to the disciplinary committee." Drake ordered.

"As you wish." Maria said.

"Fine…. I'll do what you say for now." Misa said as she admits defeat.

"Oh, before I forget thank you for calling the public morals committee in on this matter Mae Imada." Drake said to Mae.

"It's just that I don't think fighting at school is inappropriate especially on the first day." Mae said as she looks at Drake with heartfelt eyes.

_Slowly the cafeteria starts to return back to its normal rhythm; however both Misa and Maria have something to say to Mae as they walk out the cafeteria._

"I'll be sure to get you for this you snitch." Misa whispered to Mae in a threatening tone.

_Now for Maria's turn as she passes by Mae._

"Thank you. I didn't want to have to resort to lethal force." Maria said as she actually appreciates Mae's interference.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Mae: No don't jump.

Kosaku: This isn't the way to deal with your problems!

Tokimi: I'll stop it.

Maria: That spell….. it's a technique only taught to members of my family. How do you know it?

Tokimi: Hmmmm… I wonder that too.

Maria: Next time on Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei: Gravità Aquila "Body Guard of the West III".


	4. Bodyguard of the West III

**Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: ****Gravità Aquila**

**Chapter 4**

**Bodyguard of the West III**

* * *

_At first it seemed as though Maria's confrontation with the alpha-bitch of the school Misa would end up as an all out brawl between herself, Misa, and her goon squad; however it was brought to an end when Drake the chairman of the public morals committee of whom has an apparent affinity with sound wave oscillation magic intervened in the affair. Maria surrendered peacefully while Misa wanted to resist despite the potential blow back, but ultimately she surrendered as well. Due to this near all-out fight and the parties involved, the student council president Youichi Shimada and the head of the club management group Tokimi Mitsuya were called in to hear both sides of this story along with Drake. Misa tries lie and deflect blame on Maria while Maria simply tells the truth, but regardless it doesn't take either of them very long to account for the earlier events of today._

"Now that Misa's answered our questions we'd like to as you a few in turn Ms. Alcott." Youichi said.

"I simply wish to be as helpful as possible in this matter. Ask whatever you wish, and I'll answer to the best of my ability." Maria retorts as she finds standing in Youichi's presence a little unnerving despite the lack of magical power compared to that of Tokimi and Drake.

"Before we start asking however, do you have any questions for us?" Tokimi inquired.

"Just one. It was my understanding of the school regulations that the chairman or chairwoman in this case of the club management group only gets involved disciplinary matters when it concerns multiple or high ranking members of a school's club. Why are you here now Tokimi?" Maria inquired.

"I'm here for the very reason you just described, but if Misa doesn't mind I'll have her explain the rest." Tokimi answered.

"Do I have to honey?" Misa asks Youichi.

"You're already in a bit of trouble, so I suggest that you comply with us for now." Youichi answered.

"Honey?... oh I see." Maria mumbled as she realized that Misa and Youichi were romantically involved.

"Fine…. Ahem I'm the president of the Magical Arts club, but despite what the name implies my club teachers its members how to construct works of art by using mostly if not completely a series of spells. This requires the ability to accurately pinpoint the target coordinates of a spell before activating, of which club members go through special training to improve. In fact you'll find that almost all of the clubs at 3rd High place an emphasis on one or more of the key skills required of a magician." Misa said as she begrudgingly explained to Maria another aspect about 3rd High.

"Thank you for that Misa though it's time to get back on topic. According to a couple of witness statements you were already preparing an activation sequence for a spell before Misa had even started to do the same." Drake said as he reads a report on the manner.

"That's correct sir. I admitted as such during my recollection of recent events, but I take it that's not the question you wanted to ask only partially deals with this." Maria said as she holds her arms behind her shoulders.

"You see that's why she should be punished instead of me or at the very least she should be given a harsher punishment!" Misa yelled.

"That's enough Misa! I suggest you stay silent unless spoken to unless you wish to add insubordination to the list of charges against you." Youichi ordered.

"Anyways… no it wasn't. It can be argued that at you purposely antagonized Misa given your choice of words while preparing the activation sequence for the spell you used in order to start a fight. If someone made that accusation what would you say?" Drake inquired.

"I would say they're wrong sir." Maria answered.

"In that case why would they be wrong?" Tokimi followed.

"I don't deny that I lack some of the diplomatic finesse required to deal with certain people and that I could have handled that better, however I would never intentionally start a fight if it could be helped. In addition, I've heard of several criminal cases both in your country and mine where a magician with superior activation speed attacked first in self defense." Maria explained.

"I'll admit that's a valid point… Drake and Tokimi, if the two of you don't mind I've already thought of a suitable course of action to deal with this matter." Youichi said as he placed both of his hands on the table before him.

"If I have an objection I'll state it after the fact." Drake informed.

"The same goes for me as well." Tokimi followed.

"In that case I'll recommend to the correctional committee that Misa Taguchi be suspended for one week effective immediately." Youichi said in a firm tone of voice.

"What?! Why?!" Misa yelled as she expected to get a much lighter punishment if not scot free from the lunch room incident.

"You know exactly why. According to witness statements you were the one who put Maria on the defensive regardless of how she reacted in response. In addition, said witnesses saw you prepare an offensive magic spell of some kind with the intention of inflicting serious harm to Maria." Youichi said.

"But she herself admitted preparing a spell first." Misa retorts as she points at Maria.

"To which she has a legitimate claim of self defense by attacking first regardless, and as you heard she admitted in her version of events that she would have canceled the spell if you didn't attack her." Drake pointed out.

"In addition, given the complexity of the non-lethal spell she used to detain you, it's clear that she's capable of using something on the opposite end of that spectrum if she really wanted and showed a great deal of restraint by not doing so. Maria also offered you a chance to peacefully surrender, but you refused and ordered members of your club to assist in your feud. I'll deal with them myself later, but you're getting a good deal right now so I suggest you take it." Tokimi followed.

"Anyone else would have been suspended for a much longer period if not expelled from 3rd High, so I suggest that you accept this olive branch I'm extending to you." Youichi strongly informed.

"Fine…" Misa said as she once again begrudgingly admits defeat.

"Then collect whatever personal belongings you still have on school grounds and go home. We'll inform your parents of our decision as soon as we're done with Maria here." Tokimi ordered.

_As Misa silently exited the committee room she looked upon Maria's face hoping that she'll have a look on her face that justifies her growing hatred of Maria, but in turn all she received was silence as Maria actually only considered this as a minor inconvenience._

"Was there anything else you wanted to ask me? Or am I free to go?" Maria inquired.

"Oh if you think you're getting off scot free than think again. While you did have the right of self defense, you're behavior was none the less a contributing factor in the whole debacle. If I allow such behavior to go unpunished it'll send the wrong message to other students." Youichi argued.

"I understand." Maria said as she actually understood the point of Youichi's argument, and wasn't just saying so for prosperity.

"But since you did have the right of self defense in this matter you're punishment will be vastly lighter compared to Misa's. In fact a couple hours of detention after school today should be sufficient enough." Youichi suggested.

"Pardon me Youichi-san, but if you don't mind I have a better idea I'd like to suggest." Tokimi interrupts.

"It is within your rights, so go ahead." Youichi retorts.

"Instead of boring her to death by staring at an electronic board…. I'd like to have her assist the club management group for the day instead. We're a bit more understaffed than we originally anticipated being at the start of the year seeing as how some of our members either graduated last year or quit to join other clubs, so we could use the assistance. Plus as you know it's a far more labor intensive duty than people realize, so I think Maria will avoid repeating her behavior through gaining a better understanding of what it takes for our school to function by sweating out her punishment." Tokimi explained.

"I support Tokimi's suggestion Youichi-san." Drake said.

"Very well. Maria C. Alcott, for three hours after the end of school today you are to assist the head of the club management group Tokimi Mitsuya by doing anything she asks of you. I trust you have no objections?" Youichi ordered.

"No objections, however I will need to make a phone call because of this." Maria informed.

"Ah in that case feel free to use the committee's phone. Just be sure to press pound before you dial." Drake said.

_Maria decided to ignore her present company once she realized that these three figure heads of 3__rd__ High weren't going to give her any privacy for her phone call._

"Yes it's me… No nothing's wrong…. Yes I realize that I'm calling in the middle of school hours….. I just wanted to tell you that I will be late by at least a couple of hours… Something came up that requires me to spend the time…. I passed by it on the way here… If it is then I'll pick some up…. Very well good bye." Maria said before hanging up the phone.

"If you hurry you should make it back to your assign training room for your next class. If any members of the public morals committee happen to stop you… show them this note, and they'll let you be on your way." Drake informed as he passed Maria a small note via simple movement spell.

"Then I'll bid the three of you a good day." Maria said as she offered a light bow to these three figure heads of the school.

"Now that this is out of the way… we have to do something about Misa." Drake said the moment Maria closes the door behind her.

"I agree. Even though she's your girlfriend Youichi this isn't the first time she's caused a major incident, and if we don't let it go I worry she'll do something particularly stupid." Tokimi pointed out.

"I know. I've already thought of a plan over the summer, and it seems that because of today's events that we'll be able to move forward ahead of schedule." Youichi informed.

"Mind letting us in on the secret my old friend?" Drake inquired.

* * *

_To those of you who are curious about what their discussion will be like….. I'm sorry to inform you that it'll be a discussion behind closed doors. Maria makes it on time for her next class by the skin of her teeth, of which consists of having her class go through basic magic exercises in one of 3__rd__ High's training rooms. As for the kind of training room it was….. well let's just say it's the same one a certain genius engineer and his friends used not too long ago._

"I just made it…. good." Maria said clearly out of breath, of which indicates that she ran all the way here from the public morals committee room.

"I got this from the vending machine before the end of lunch in case you had to rush getting here, and it looks like that it was a good thing I did." Kosaku said as he held out a small bottle of water to Maria.

"Thanks… What are we doing today?" Maria asks as she quickly guzzles down said bottle of water.

"It's just a simple exercise to determine our average activation speed for basic spells. Basically you just pour some of your psions into one of the standing CADs behind me, make the small cart go back and forth on the track, and see how long it takes." Kosaku explained.

"Seems simple enough." Maria notes.

"Considering what you did at lunch today….. yeah it should be fairly simple. Just pick a station and wait in line." Kosaku said as he pointed at one of the various stations.

_Speaking of which, seeing as how Kosaku suggested it out our heroine and her plucky sidekick decided to get in line for the station that he pointed out. After just a few minute wait it eventually became Maria's turn with Kosaku right behind her._

"It's just a simple movement spell huh? It'll be easy to move a cart, but let's see if I can move the right one." Maria thought as she placed her palm on the screen of the testing station.

_Slowly a faded green activation sequence appeared and wrapped itself around Maria's arm, she then takes a deep breath, absorbs the activation sequence, and finally releases it as she stretches her arm outwards in order to make the small metal cart move forward then back again._

"Good…. I didn't somehow move the wrong one." Maria thought as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's really impressive... a time of .425 seconds for the activation speed. That's way beyond the level of a Course 2 student in terms of pure spell speed. With this kind of skill there's no way you're practical ability should have been rated so low during the entrance exam even if you didn't finish it." Kosaku said as he makes a slight whistling noise out of admiration.

"But the fact remains that I still didn't, so as such the proctors have to judge accordingly. Still… it should be considered miraculous that I made it as far as I did during the practical exam before I had that traumatic episode in the middle of it." Maria retorts.

"Why would it be miraculous?" Kosaku curiously asks.

"It's your turn, so you should hurry up and go seeing as how it would take me to long to explain." Maria answered.

"Alright." Kosaku said as he dismisses the issue, and walks up to the standing CAD.

_Save for having a bright red colored activation sequence, Kosaku's attempt at this training exercise isn't much different than Maria's. He simply has the small metal guided cart move back and forth extraordinarily quickly._

"An activation speed time of .3 seconds exactly?" Maria said as she had a legitimate look of surprise on her face due to what she just saw.

"It's not really that impressive. Given what I saw earlier, you're better than me as a magician in terms of power and choice of spells that you can use." Kosaku said as he tried to dismiss the attention Maria and the other students in his class were giving him.

Still a time of .3 seconds would put you near the top of the list among freshmen Course 1… no Course 1 students in general at 3rd High. Just how nervous were you during the entrance exam?" Maria asks.

"Very." Kosaku answers in a most nonchalant manner.

"In any case your activation speed is just under 30% better than mine. If we were to fight each other in a duel where the first one who strikes wins….. I'd have to use a spell in which the activation speed was at least 31% faster than whatever you'd be using. I only know a couple of spells that fit the description, so the most likely result is that you'd beat me." Maria pointed out.

"True, but real battle is rarely like that. Unless you're a BS magician with an extraordinarily useful ability… being able to do only a few spells well won't allow you to make much headway in this world." Kosaku said if he actually understands the harsh realities of it.

"While that may make sense…. You on the other hand talk about battle as if you've already seen it." Maria said as she understands that practicality of Kosaku's words all too well.

"I could make the same accusation about you." Kosaku retorts.

"This guy….. like Tokimi I'll have to be carefully around him. Still I don't sense much strength in him. Is he hiding his strength like how I suspect Youichi Shimada of doing? Or does his only notable talent happen to be a fast activation speed?" Maria thought.

"In any case we're holding up the line, so we should probably move to the back of it." Kosaku pointed out as he intentionally or not decided to change the mood of the room.

"Right." Maria said as Kosaku snapped her out of her train of thought.

* * *

_This class and Maria's remaining ones proceed uneventfully right up until the final bell rings signaling the end of the first day of school. Kosaku wondered if Maria would like to at least walk part way home with him and her sister, however she politely rejected his offer due to telling him that she had things to do. She for some reason decided not to tell Kosaku that she was going to be an indentured servant to the Club Management group for a few hours. Speaking of which, after a confusing bout of map analysis Maria finds their office of which was a very large classroom only a few moments later. The inside is as chaotic as an early 1920 pressroom with students running back and forth with a pile of papers. _

"We only have a couple of weeks until this year's bout of stupidity is upon us. We need all of the clubs to submit their request forms by the end of today in order to stay on schedule, and given our current staff there's no way we can catch up if we fall behind. Now move out people." Tokimi tells a group of students who were gathered in front of her desk.

"Yes ma'am." said group responds like a trained military unit.

"Hmmm you're late Maria!" Tokimi yelled once she noticed that Maria was in the room.

"I got lost." Maria retorts in a rather blunt manner.

"Ha…. ahem. Do you want anything to drink? We have water and…. no wait just water it seems the coffee maker hasn't been refilled." Tokimi asks as she quickly looks over Maria's shoulder.

"No thank you. Since this is a punishment after all I feel that I should avoid taking advantage of your pleasantries if possible." Maria answered.

"Ha so serious you remind me of… actually never mind. In any case I have a few things I want you to do in order to serve out your punishment, but if you have any questions about the club management group before I tell you then feel free to ask." Tokimi explained as she goes from remembering something she hoped she wouldn't to having a look of all business.

"Well for starters couldn't you have come up with a better name then the club management group?" Maria asks.

"Ha ha ha probably yeah. All of the other Magic High Schools in Japan have a similar institution under different names. In fact I think First High calls theirs the Extracurricular Activities Federation, but I've been so busy over the summer that I haven't had time to think about a better name." Tokimi answered as she found Maria's question a little funny.

"What exactly does the Club Management Group then? To the best of my knowledge we don't have such organizations in Magic High Schools back home." Maria curiously asked.

"Well I'm sure your country has an equivalent of a student council president for its Magic High Schools, and that president gets constant requests from clubs right?" Tokimi asks.

"Yes." Maria answered.

"Well basically what we do is streamline the requests that go from the clubs to the president or Youichi-san in this case. You know things like budget, priority use of shared facilities, what clubs get priority for a new room, and things of the like. We also act as a peace broker between clubs that are at each other's throats, and if necessary we put them down if they try to gouge out each other's throats." Tokimi explained.

"I thought that the Public Moral's Committee handles all magic related incidents." Maria pointed out.

"They do… and we try to leave such situations to them in order to avoid antagonizing the public morals committee, but not all fights between clubs involve the use of magic. In addition the club management group, certain committees, and certain members of committees are allowed to act as if they were the public morals committee under specific sets of circumstances." Tokimi continued to explain.

"What would those circumstances be?" Maria curiously asks.

"There are several more but to give you an idea a fight between 2 of the larger magic heavy clubs, a school wide riot not that this has ever happened, and an attack on the school itself not that this will ever happen. We also have the largest amount of authority in deciding who goes on the roster for interschool competitions such as the nine schools battle or the thesis competition in the fall." Tokimi informed.

"So you could say put someone on the kenjutsu team's roster for an official tournament who isn't even a member?" Maria asks.

"Technically yes I could do that, but like with the public morals committee we don't do that for any one club in order to avoid antagonizing them. In any case I really should be getting you to work or Youichi will tear me a new one, so I'll only answer one more question." Maria explained as she scratched the back of her head as if it were some kind of nervous tick.

"Why are you the Chairwoman of the club management group?" Maria curiously asks.

"I don't understand what you mean." Tokimi retorts.

"In the magic high school I attended back home it's common for the successors of club leaders to be of varying years, but when it came to the major student ran organizations such as the ASB of which is our equivalent of the Student Council the successor has always been a junior or a senior since we follow a 4 year education plan. Wouldn't the case here normally be something similar? For example, the position of chairman of the club management group being succeeded by a 3rd year instead of a 2nd year student." Maria said as she tries to better illustrate her point.

"Oh I see what you mean now… haaaaa….. the person… who was supposed to be the chairman instead of me this year… he's….. no longer around. I was going to be his successor once he graduated this year, and out of both the students and teachers respect for his wishes the position fell to me instead of another 3rd year." Tokimi said as whatever happened to this unnamed student was clearly very painful for her to remember.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to force you to remember things you didn't want to. It's clear that you miss this person very much regardless of whoever he was." Maria said as she feels guilty about her line of questioning though she doesn't let it show on her face.

"Yeah me, Drake, Youichi, and…. but no… no more getting off topic. You may have heard me talk about 'this year's bout of stupidity earlier'. I was referring to 3rd High's club fair this year. All 9 magic Highs schools hold them with 2-4 weeks of the start of the school year, and preparing for it can be more chaotic then keeping everything peaceful while it's going on. Right now we're running all over the school collecting space usage and material use requests from the various clubs." Tokimi explained.

"Then I take it you want me to assist with that process." Maria said.

"Correct, and for starters I'd like you to go to the Magical Arts club room to collect their request forms." Tokimi said.

"Are you sure that's a wise idea given what happened during lunch today?" Maria asked as she was clearly surprised by what Tokimi wanted her to do.

"With anyone else it would normally be unwise, but not everyone in the Magical Arts club is directly loyal to Misa such is the case with the vice-president of the club. In fact most of the members that are loyal to her directly were the ones who tried to help Misa jump you in the cafeteria, but they've all been suspended for a couple of days for their actions so they won't cause you any trouble. If any of the 4 members that weren't suspended who are directly loyal to Misa try anything, you are free to defend yourself and I'll back you up incase Youichi or Drake say something so long as you don't injure them too badly." Tokimi explained.

"Then could you please point out where their club room is on the map?" Maria asks as she takes out the one Tokimi gave her this morning.

"It's in this classroom of the blue building right next to the leg ball courts on the other side of the campus. If you end up at the swimming pool then you've gone too far." Tokimi said as she wrote a few quick directions on Maria's map.

"Okay… I should be able to follow this." Maria mumbled not because of Tokimi's somewhat messy handwriting, but because it was written simply enough in Japanese for her to understand.

* * *

_Save for almost having another déjà vu moment by narrowly avoiding an out of control rubber ball, Maria's walk over to the Magical Arts clubroom was completely and utterly peaceful. It's clear that the members of this club love what they do for Maria can sense their spells hard at work. Our heroine then reaches for the door handle and pulls, however for some strange reason it won't budge._

"What the….. Excuse me, but is this the Magical Arts club?" Maria asks as she knocks on the sliding door.

"Vice-prez, there's someone at the door!" one of the Magical Arts club members yell.

"And you can't be bothered to get it seeing as how you're the closest to the door?" the vice-prez presumably said as Maria could hear the sound of a chair scratching the floorboard.

"Just what kind of a club is this?" Maria thought.

"Oh for the love of….. Saki, you hanged your canvas against the door to dry again didn't you?!" the vice-prez yelled as he was clearly annoyed by this.

"There's nowhere else I can hang it that isn't already covered by something else." this Saki retorts.

"I said that you could hang it on the windows." The vice-prez responds.

"No way! The sun will mess up the way the paint dries!" Saki pointed out.

"Just move it now we have a visitor!" the vice-prez yelled as he tried to avoid snapping in front of Saki and what if any other club members that happened to be inside.

_Maria stands their patiently twiddling her fingers as she hears Saki hopefully moving whatever was blocking the door out of the way._

Right… sorry about that. We're normally way more civilized then that, but preparing for the club fair can make people a little wound up myself included. Now what can the vice-prez do for you?" the vice-prez explained as he dusts off his shoulder what Maria hopes is actually just dust.

"I was sent here by the club management group to pick up your space and material request forms for the club fair." Maria explained.

"Our club secretary has that document. Please come in, and I'll make sure she gives it to you." the vice-prez said in a surprisingly polite manner.

"Alright….." Maria said as she follows the vice-prez into the clubroom, but as a precaution she keeps one hand on her sword hilt type CAD.

_Despite the noise Maria had heard on the outside of the Magical Arts clubroom, there were only two other people inside aside from the vice-president hard at work on their own projects. Due to the number of life-sized human sculptures Maria initially thought there were more, however she realized it just gives further credit to the skill of the various club members. Before I forget, one of the two members mentioned earlier was carving a marble statue with what Maria recognized as the type B lethal spell sonic-blade. The other member was wearing a headset while concentrating intently on a brush, in which she cast a movement spell upon in order to paint a canvas._

"You've got to be….. I'm sorry for what you're about to hear next… Saki, take off the headphones we have a guest!" the vice-prez yelled as he threw a piece of charcoal at the back of her head.

"What the…. hey what was that for?!" Saki yelled as the piece of charcoal veered off course and hit her headset instead.

"I swear how did you end up as our club secretary? You may be really good at organizing our documents, but you're personality is horrible." The vice-prez sighs as he puts his hand on his face and shakes his head in disappointment.

"Maybe I wouldn't be so testy if you'd stop interrupting me every 5 seconds for something ridiculous!" Saki yelled.

"If you'd stop consistently doing something ridiculous I wouldn't." the Vice-prez said as he once again tries to keep himself from snapping.

"For your information Misa asked me to do this for her since she got suspended. Now what do you want? I need to get at least a third of the scenery in….. 2 hours." Saki said clearly annoyed as she quickly glanced at a clock in the room.

"Someone from the club management group is here to pick up our request forms." The vice-prez explained.

"It's in my backpack on the table behind me." Saki said as she actually pointed to the table behind her.

"Okay you can go back to work I'll get them." The vice-prez said.

"NO! I am not letting you look through my backpack again, and don't even bother bringing up what happened 2 weeks ago. I was in a drug-induced stupor after seeing an orthodontist." Saki yelled.

"Alright geez calm down… I swear we really do have better relationship than this, but again we're all under a lot of stress." The vice-prez said at first to Saki and then Maria.

"Wait….. that's the chick who got Misa suspended! The hell are you doing that for? Oh I get it…. that Mitsuya bitch did this on purpose to piss us off!" Saki yelled as she only further proved that she wasn't in a very good mood.

"Okay you know this isn't the first time we've been under scrutiny because of the stupid stuff she does. If you don't want our club activities to be suspended again….. I suggest you cooperate." The vice-prez said as he's clearly close to reaching his boiling point.

"At least I have a god dam sense of loyalty! You know she cares about the success of this club! You do realize how much effort she takes to prevent any blowback from the stupid crap she does from affecting us right?!" Saki yelled.

"Excuse me…" the student who was carving a marble statue said as he pulled on Maria's sleeve to get her attention.

"What is it?" Maria asks she the vice-prez and Saki break out into a full blown vocal war with each other.

"You might want to take this and go." the carving student said as he passes Maria the Magical Arts club's request forms.

"Thank you." Maria said as she was a little off put by the fact that this student was talking to her in a more emotionless tone than even she normally uses.

"Believe it or not these two are actually engaged and hold each other very dear, but they're under a lot of stress preparing for the wedding and the club fair." the carving student explained.

"When is it going to be?" Maria asks due to a reason that's a mystery even too herself.

"After the end of this school year, but in any case if you sense the activation of a few spells by the time you reach the staircase… well let's just say you should call the public morals committee." The carving student said.

"Right….." Maria said as she took the documents and started walking towards the door.

"No seriously call them if you do. I wasn't joking in the slightest, and it's because they're part of the reason we were under scrutiny by the school last year. It wasn't just because of Misa's ridiculous sense of pride and arrogance." The carving student emphasized.

_Thankfully Maria didn't have to call the public morals committee like how that carving student implied she might, so in turn her walk back to the club management group's office was completely uneventful. Maria found Tokimi buried under a ton of paperwork clearly wishing she was somewhere else when she returned._

"Oh please tell me they were stupid enough to try something….. if I have to sign another one of these request forms I'll go crazy. Wait… scratch that if they did that would mean I'd even more paper work to sign." Tokimi said out of desperation the moment she laid her eyes on Maria.

"Either much to your joy or much to your sadness, I was able to get the forms from them." Maria said as she placed the forms on the top of the ones Tokimi has yet to sign.

"Okay thanks you can go home now." Tokimi said as she was too focused on signing these forms to be able to give Maria any proper amount of attention.

"Wait…. that's all you wanted me to do today?" Maria asked as she finds what Tokimi said a little surprising.

"Huh? Oh yeah….. that was all. I wanted to see if you had the guts to face the people who you had every reason not to like for the sake of 3rd High's functionality. Since you did this, it clearly proved to me your willingness and effort to be more diplomatic with other students and correct your mistakes, and that was good enough for me. Just don't tell Drake because he'll wonder why I didn't tell him in advance, and don't tell Youichi because he'll start yelling again." Tokimi explained.

"I guess…. I'll see you tomorrow senpai." Maria said as she starts walking towards the door.

"If you want to join the club management group on a permanent basis let me know. We could use someone with your ability." Tokimi suggested.

"I'll think about it." Maria said, but she knew that she had something more important to do then babysit multiple collectives of people.

"You do that!" Tokimi yelled as Maria closed the door behind her.

* * *

_As Maria exited out of the building the club management group's office was in and on the school's central courtyard, she was on her cell phone telling whoever she was talking to earlier that her unexpected affairs have been settled._

"I'll be at your residence sooner than I thought…. I know I could call it that, but it doesn't feel that way to me yet… No I haven't forgotten about your shopping list at the grocery store I just wanted to tell you that I'd be there sooner than I thought. Very well if I see that I'll pick some up too. Is there anything else?... Then I'll see you later." Maria said before she put her cell phone back in her inner breast pocket.

"I'm telling you I'm not kidding now hurry up!" a random 3rd high student yelled as he ran past Maria while presumably a couple of friends of his were staggering behind.

"What's going on?" Maria said as she grabbed one of the staggering friends by the shoulder.

"Some 3rd year weed is on top of the library is about to jump of the roof." The person Maria stopped said.

_It's a sad but horrible truth in that when it comes to rather public suicide attempts, it's rare when ordinary people….. well as ordinary as magical high school students get gather with the thought, concern, and desire of stopping that person. In fact, those ordinary people are far more likely to show up out of curiosity to see if the person who is about to jump will actually jump. Humanity would be horrified if they were consciously aware of this fact, and Maria is no different when she along with several students gathers around the library. If you were to look at it from the sky the library would look like the letter U or lowercase n depending on your preference with an entrance in the far left, center, and far right of the building._

"Do you know who it is on the roof?" Maria asks the first student she comes across outside the library.

"I'm a freshman, so….. Maria I thought you still had some business to take care of at school." Mae said as she by chance was the first student Maria came across.

"It was settled much earlier than I thought, but what are you doing here? I thought you were going to go home with your brother." Maria asked as she for a moment puts aside the 3rd year about to jump out of her mind.

"I felt guilty about leaving you to walk home alone, so I told my brother to go on ahead, and decided to wait for you to leave. But…. oh this is so not the time for that." Mae explained.

"No it….. wait isn't that…." Maria was saying as she squints to try and get a better look at whoever was on the roof.

_Imagine yourself looking through Maria's eyes. You can see the rough shape of a female figure on the roof of the library. Now imagine you're zooming in on that female figure, but for the record Maria isn't casting a spell that improves her vision it's just the result of good camera work. When the proverbial camera finishes zooming in you all can see that the 3__rd__ year "Weed" about to jump is none other than the very same young woman that Maria was talking to in the library this morning._

"It is." Maria said as she again recognized the 3rd year about to jump as the one she was talking too this morning.

"It is who? What do you recognize the girl?" Mae asks.

"Someone I saw in the library in the morning before the opening ceremony, but I don't know her name." Maria answered.

"I hope someone can talk her down… or god forbid catch her if she jumps." Mae said with concern over this unnamed 3rd year student.

_Make no mistake there will always be those who truly show concern over those who are about to jump off the bridge of life, but there are even the rarer few who hope they jump out of nothing more than scorn._

"Geez, would this lady hurry up and jump already. I've got better things to do than just standing here." an arrogant Course 1 student said.

"Yeah no kidding. Those weeds are a waste of space, so I say the less of them there are the better. That means more can be spent on those of us with real ability instead of those weakling talentless Course 2 magician wannabes." Another arrogant Course 1 student said as he referred not to just the 3rd year about to jump, but all Course 2 students in their entirety.

"Still I hope this lady would jump already. Anyone who dishonors this school by letting themselves get demoted to Course 2 deserves to die." The first arrogant Course 1 student pointed out.

"What an awful thing to say…." Mae said as she was almost rendered speechless by the audacity of the words of her fellow Course 1 students.

"Those with talent move on in this world and those without are left behind. It's an unfair truth, but if you don't acknowledge its existence then you'll never be able to change your own circumstances." Maria rather coldly pointed out to Mae as pure rage manifested in her eyes, however Mae fails to notice this.

"I can't believe you'd say something like that." Mae said as she could tell Maria wasn't a real emotional teenage girl, but she didn't believe her to be the type to say something so cruel either.

"But at the same time there are so many talented people in the world….. well let's just say no one will really miss two people with talent being left behind permanently." Maria said as she reached for one of her hilt shaped CADs.

_Maria was about to do something far more stupid then what Misa tried to do her during lunch, but she quickly felt someone grab her left shoulder before she could even start preparing the activation sequence for a spell._

"Don't Maria….. as much as they deserve it…. they're not worth the effort." Tokimi said as Maria looks over her shoulder only to find that she was the person who grabbed it.

_This Tokimi didn't have the look of the helpful energetic senpai from this morning; she didn't have the look of the senpai stressed from being under a mountain of paperwork either, but rather and forgive the poor irony of what I'm about to say but this senpai had the look of a soldier who knew that lives were on the line._

"You're right of course." Maria said as takes a few deep breathes and calms down.

"Oh my god….. she's going to do a running jump!" Mae yelled.

"Crap….. I need you to slow down the descent. I can't balance the weight on my own." Tokimi quickly tells Maria before she runs towards the outer wall of the library.

"The weight for….. ahh hold up!" Maria was saying as she decides to chase Tokimi through the crowd of people around the library.

_Maria and Tokimi could have forced their way through this crowd with far more ease, however even they both realized that despite the current situation using their own magic would cause more problems than it would fix._

"I'm not going to let you do something this stupid." Tokimi thought the moment she broke through the crowd of people in her way.

"She jumped!" one of the students in the crowd yelled.

"Shit!" Tokimi yelled.

_Tokimi casted an acceleration spell along with a weight reduction spell on herself the moment she cleared the crowd of onlookers, and almost immediately started jumping up the side of the building using whatever ledge she can plant her foot on in order to make her job easier. Tokimi decided to push herself off the side of the library building, and attempts to dive for the 3__rd__ year who jumped just as they were about to pass each other in an attempt to catch her._

"She should have put more power into that spell. Unless Tokimi had another trick up her sleeve she's going to undershoot it." Maria thought after she finally made it to the forefront of the crowd.

_Right at the moment where Tokimi should have started falling back to Earth, a magic seal manifests itself directly under her right foot, of which allows Tokimi to propel herself the extra distance she needs to catch the 3__rd__ year who jumped._

"That spell… no it can't be!" Maria thought as she was shocked to her core by the spell Tokimi just used.

"Amazing! I can't believe she was able to use Launcher midair." Mae said out of amazement after she works her way through the crowd only to be standing just behind Maria.

"Relying on visuals alone….. it might look like she was using the movement spell Launcher, but that wasn't the spell she used at all." Maria thought.

"No kidding…. That's why she's the head of the club management group even though she's only a 2nd year." A 3rd year course 1 student said due to overhearing Mae's statement.

"It wasn't the movement spell Launcher you fools, but instead it was the movement type spell Air Plate. That spell was only taught to members of my family, so how does someone from the Mitsuya family know it?" Maria thought.

"Oh no…. they're starting to fall again!" Mae yelled.

"Like it or not Maria….. Tokimi trusts you with her life, so you have to make good on that faith." Maria thought as she runs to just under where Tokimi and this unnamed 3rd year will land.

_Maria looks up and stretches her arm out in the same direction while preparing the activation sequence for a fairly complex spell. It's a shame that this crowd consists mostly of freshmen, for only a few people in the crowd even realize the nature of the spell she's about to cast._

"I've never used this spell in this way before, so the timing has to be perfect." Maria thought.

_At first it seemed like Tokimi and this unnamed 3__rd__ year would fall to their deaths in an arc like descent, but right at the moment where these two would start falling into this arc they instead started to fall in a spiral like fashion. In fact it looked like they were safely riding in one of those spiral shaped slides you normally see at the play areas in most fast food restaurants or a public park. It doesn't take very much longer for Tokimi and this unnamed 3__rd__ year to land on the ground safely and uninjured save for a bit of dirt on their uniforms._

"Maria are you alright?" Tokimi asked the moment she noticed that Maria was breathing heavily.

"Yeah… the spell I used… it works under the same principal of how jet streams… are formed… to blow away… a target, but I've never used it to catch one instead. I superheated and super cooled several more pockets of air then I normally would, so doing so tired me out a little that's all." Maria said after she managed to regain control over her heavy breathing.

"Ha ha not one of your better spells I take it?" Tokimi asks as the adrenaline caused by this situation quickly started to pass.

"Ha ha ha ha I don't know why I'm ha ha laughing. I didn't think it was that funny, and no not if I use it like that." Maria said as she busts out laughing much to her own laugh suppressed surprise.

"In any case… stupid nee-san… how could you try something this dumb? He wouldn't want you to live like this. He didn't sacrifice himself to save you just so you could throw it all away." Tokimi said to the now unconscious unnamed 3rd year as she struggled hard to hold back a flood of tears.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Maria: Why did she…

Tokimi: Like how you said at lunch….. it's something I don't want to talk about.

Masaki: Wait…. what are you doing here?

Maria: I've been hired by your father to people from trying to kill you.

Masaki: I don't need a…..

Maria: Believe me…. this is as inconvenient for me as it is for you.

Masaki: Next time on Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Gravità Aquila "Bodyguard of the West IV"

Maria: It's inconvenient because I didn't even want to go to 3rd High.


	5. Bodyguard of the West IV

**Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: ****Gravità Aquila**

**Chapter 5**

**Bodyguard of the West IV**

* * *

_One would always expect their first day of school to be filled a variety of all kinds of events, however a normal person wouldn't think that it would include getting into a fight, serving an unusual punishment, and assisting in the prevention of a rather public suicide attempt. Unfortunately for Maria, that's exactly what her first day of school consisted of. After the few members of the public morals committee who were still on school grounds cleared the scene around the library, Maria decided to follow Tokimi as she carried the unconscious 3__rd__ year that made the suicide attempt in her arms to the infirmary. Maria almost lost Tokimi a couple of times due to a combination of her still being unfamiliar with 3__rd__ High's layout and being distracted by yet another phone call. As for her "friend" Mae, our heroine Maria respectfully asked her to go home._

"Yes I know I said that I'd be at your residence sooner… I happen to be walking by when an incident occurred at the library, so I among several other people have been asked by the disciplinary committee to give witness statements… It shouldn't be more than another 20-30 minutes…. Don't worry I'll still go by the store on my way like you asked. No….. it's no trouble you're willing to put me up, so it's the least I can do. Alright… I'll see you there." Maria said before putting away her phone as she walks into the school infirmary.

"Ha…. you don't have to do this." Tokimi quietly said as she gave a sad soft chuckle while tucking in the unconscious 3rd year in the infirmary bed's blankets.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Maria said as she closes the door to the infirmary.

"I already know that you gave the public morals committee your statement, so you could have been halfway home by now if not already there." Tokimi retorts.

"Yes well… certain pressing matters prevent me from doing that." Maria informed.

"What would that be?" Tokimi curiously asks.

"I noticed that you called this acquaintance of yours Nee-san, but it's…." Maria was saying.

"Nee-san… it's just a way of calling someone older sister." Tokimi interrupts.

"I know what it means I can speak the language. I was wondering why you called her that especially since you two save for perhaps facial structure look nothing alike." Maria explained.

"That's because… she's my half sister on my mother's side of the family, and that she gets her looks from her father. My parents met when Rise…. my sister's name by the way was only a few months old." Tokimi explained.

"Oh… I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds." Maria said with what is hopefully an apologetic face.

"No…. you helped me stop her from doing something so stupid! It's the least I could to." Tokimi said as she kicks Rise's bed-frame out of anger.

"I have a few questions, but….. given what happened I'll keep them to myself for now." Maria said.

"I'm sorry for bothering you Mitsuya-senpai, however I thought you'd like to know that I called the school councilor, but since he had the day off he won't be here for at least an hour. If you could please watch over Rise-senpai for me… I'll get the nurse to see if there was any physical injuries I missed." A member of the health committee said.

"Oh now that you mention it…. where is she? And we're the same your, so you don't need to call me that." Tokimi asked due to apparently just realizing the nurse wasn't here.

"I don't know the details, but it was something about 2 members of the Magical Arts club getting in an argument and a 3rd member getting accidently cut by a knife as a result." The health committee member said as he started walking towards the door.

_However before this unnamed face of the Health Committee could walk out the door, someone else opened it and walked into the infirmary. That someone being Drake Ryuusei, of whom had a great deal of concern on his face written as plain as day._

"Good afternoon Ryuusei-senpai, but if you'll please excuse me I have somewhere I have to be." the health committee member said as he acknowledged the chairman of the public morals committee's presence just before squeezing past him.

"Oh sure… Tokimi, are you alright? I just heard about what happened." Drake asked with a great deal of concern after brushing past Maria.

"How do you not know?! Members of the public morals committee cleared the scene." Tokimi yelled clearly angered by Drake's ignorance to what had just occurred.

"My idiot #2 decided to wait until after I finished lecturing a couple of members of the Magical Arts club because he believed my duties were more important than personal affairs. If it was just something minor I'd agree, but that idiot should have known that this was way more important." Drake explained.

"This isn't something minor Drake. You're her friend, so you should have been here!" Tokimi yelled.

"Yeah well you're her sister, so you should have seen this coming!" Drake yelled with anger.

"I know, and that's why I'm so freaking pissed at myself right now. Hold on…. where's Youichi? I thought for sure he'd be here." Tokimi asked.

"Pheeeeew…. Okay… He was with me part of the way here, but the faculty called him into an emergency meeting when they got wind of this." Drake explained after taking the few seconds necessary for a deep breath.

"Just what is going on here?" Maria asks as she feels totally lost from trying to follow this conversation.

"It doesn't concern you." Drake said an extremely rude tone.

"Drake….. that's not the way to talk to an underclassman, and besides she along with all of the other freshmen will hear the story soon enough anyways. Also if she didn't help me I wouldn't be here to tell you this, so she has the right to hear at least the premise of the situation." Tokimi said as she was surprised by the audacity of Drake's behavior.

"You're right….. Maria C. Alcott, I offer you my humblest apologies. Given my position…. such behavior shouldn't be tolerated now that the immediate danger has passed." Drake said as he gave an apologetic bow to Maria.

"I have no interest in hearing your apologies." Maria retorts.

"Drake, could you please watch of Rise until the councilor or the nurse gets here?" Tokimi asks.

"Yeah sure no problem. I'll just ask Urahara to get started on the rest of the paperwork we had to fill without me." Drake answered as he almost immediately started typing on his cell phone.

"Maria, if you aren't in any particular rush could you please follow me?" Tokimi asks in a rather serious tone.

* * *

_Maria silently followed Tokimi out of the library, through the building's hallways, and the school's outdoor walkways especially since she took the few seconds needed to set her phone to silent. After a few more minutes of relative peace and quiet… Tokimi leads Maria to a part of the gymnasium she hadn't been to during the entrance exam, and by pure chance she ends up walking through the same hallway where she disabled Masaki's would be assassin early on in the whole process. In any case what Tokimi wanted to show Maria was a particularly interesting trophy case._

"This hallway isn't off-limits, but no one comes through here anymore." Tokimi said in a rather sad and sullen tone as she flips the light switch for the hallway.

"You brought me here to see a dusty old trophy case?" Maria asked not with the intention of being rude or anything, however she expected something a bit more dramatic after the walk over here.

"Top shelf dead in the center. If you look there you'll understand… or at least start to." Tokimi said as she rests her back against the wall just to the left of the trophy case.

_Maria found a clichéd golden cup shaped trophy, with a small plaque embedded in its base, and a framed picture hanging off the rim of that trophy placed in the exact spot Tokimi described. There was a less muscular Youichi, a Drake with some degree of facial hair, a young man Maria doesn't recognize, all three of them were dressed in some kind of battle armor holding up the trophy with smiles on their faces, and based off of the date printed on the picture it couldn't have been taken more than a year ago._

"Let's see… 'Nationwide Magic School Athletics Competition Newcomers Division Monolith Code: First Place.' and 'Winning Team: Drake Ryuusei, Youichi Shimada, and Subaru Hassaku.'" Maria mumbled as she read the plaque, of which was thankfully written in English.

"Hassaku….. one of the 18 Assistant Houses then." Maria mumbled.

"Like myself and the Ichijou family Subaru, the Hassaku clan is based around 3rd High. Their primary source of income comes from an agricultural research firm specializing in the use of magic to improve overall plant quality. Ironically Subaru specialized in freezing and heating magic." Tokimi sadly chuckled.

"Just who was this Subaru, and what does he have to do with your sister's suicide attempt?" Maria curiously asks.

"Subaru was the one who was supposed to be the leader of the club management group instead of me this year. Do you remember? I think I mentioned him earlier though not by name." Tokimi said.

"I remember yes, but that doesn't answer my question." Maria retorts.

"I know I was getting to it. I still consider those three valuable friends, but they were more my sister's friends then they were mine. When Rise's beauty started to show several guys fought over her including those three for her affection, and in fact they got into a 3-way fight for her which got them suspended for a week, but to be fair Drake was already a member of the public morals committee at the time and was unfairly punished as he tried to stop Youichi and Subaru." Tokimi explained as she starts to recall better times.

"It must have been nice to have been surrounded with so many friends at a young age." Maria pointed out in an attempt to cheer Tokimi up.

"It was, but eventually they decided the best man for her would win and it turns out that Subaru was him…. especially since Rise was the one who…. well you know and for a while I hated her for it. They truly cared for each other despite the naysayers, but eventually the whole 'True love conquers all' cliché kicked in and silenced them. Last year just a few weeks before summer break…. Subaru popped the question and Rise said yes." Tokimi said as she shows signs of resisting the urge to cry.

"How….. how did he die?" Maria said as she paused for a moment wondering whether or not she should ask that question.

"My….. our mother threw together a little engagement party to celebrate the whole affair, and the 5 of us were taking a shortcut through the factory district after getting caught in a traffic jam." Tokimi explained.

"Then what happened?" Maria asked.

"We found out later that the traffic jams were a diversion to get us to go through the factory district, but suffice to say we were ambushed by assassins sent to kill me the next head of the Mitsuya Clan. They timed it perfectly given the several Magicians among their number, so they basically caught us with our collective pants down. We retreated into one of the larger abandoned factories, and then scattered all over the place while barely managing to force our attackers to retreat. We all heard Rise screaming, but by the time we got to where she was we found Subaru… he was DOA at the hospital. According to Rise, Subaru took an attack meant for her." Tokimi said as it's clear that she's struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"I'm sorry for your loss, but you didn't need to do this for my sake." Maria said.

"I had to because as I said the other 1st years will find out eventually, but the truth tends to get distorted when told several times so I wanted at least one person to know exactly what happened." Tokimi retorts as she slowly starts to regain her composure.

"Then thank you for trusting me with this." Maria said.

"It's no problem, but there are a lot of pieces to this story I'm not telling you. In any case I blamed myself for being with them when it happened; Drake blames himself for not hearing them coming given his affinity with sound magic, and Youichi blames himself for not coming up with an effective strategy despite his genius level intellect. We all thought she was the strongest one of us all by starting to move on in her life, but it seems Rise was suffering the most given what happened today. The fact that it happened today of all days makes it sadly ironic." Tokimi said as she tried to put a smile on her face for no one's sake but her own.

"How is today ironic?" Maria curiously asked.

"Today was Subaru's birthday." Tokimi answered as she tried but failed to look at the picture of Subaru in the trophy case.

"After the funeral Rise couldn't concentrate on her studies and got demoted to Course 2, Youichi decided to build the muscle necessary to match his brains, and Drake started to take his role as a member of the public morals committee more seriously.

"I'm sorry if what I'm about to say sounds extremely insensitive and I understand death more than you think, however if Subaru's death got them to take their rolls seriously then isn't that a good thing?" Maria points out.

"Ha ha ha ha you're right that is incredibly insensitive." Tokimi said as she for some reason starts laughing uncontrollably if for no reason other than to keep her sanity.

"I'm sorry." Maria said.

"No don't be you're completely right. I still can't believe what happened though…. I always thought Rise was the strongest of the 5 of us especially after what she did to help me her half-sister." Tokimi said as she appears to be back to her normal-self at least at the outermost level.

"What did she do to help you?" Maria asked.

"It's expected for one who will succeed a prominent family to master the skills that made the family prominent in the first place, however I have absolutely little to no talent for my clan's signature spells. Try as I might they would literally blow up in my face; however it was Rise who got me to accept that fact and become strong in my own way." Tokimi explained.

"Is that way you know how to do the movement spell Air Plate a spell that was once taught only to members of my family before it was lost 3 generations ago?" Maria asked as she finally decided to stop beating around the bush.

"Ah I wasn't sure if you'd notice that. Did you know that some of the ten master clans, the 18 Assistant Houses, and the hundred families have a magic lineage dating back several hundred years?" Tokimi curiously asked.

"Yes I knew that. My family's magic lineage traces back over 6 centuries, and Air Plate is one of the spells we lost over time. I'll ask you again….. how do you know the spell?" Maria said as she wasn't going to let Tokimi worm her way out of this one.

"I learned Air Plate along with several other spells I know from training videos within the Mitsuya family's possession. As for how they're in my family's possession… well ask your grandfather, but I doubt he'll tell you." Tokimi said as she's made it clear she has no intention of revealing the cards in her hand.

"I'll let this go for now given the circumstances, but I'll get the answer from you one way or another." Maria declared as she tries to avoid getting too emotional.

"I appreciate it really and I feel I still owe you for your help today, but until I trust you just a bit more I'll be playing hard to get with this line of que…. Hold on….. Yes mom…. wait you are? Then I'll meet you in the infirmary right away." Tokimi was saying before answering a sudden phone call from her mother.

"You have to leave?" Maria asks.

"Yup…. It seems my mother found out what happened and is already on school grounds. Before I go however, will you reconsider my offer about joining the Club Management Group?" Tokimi said as she answered Maria's question with one of her own.

"I told you I'd think about it." Maria answers.

"Alright, but don't think about it too long. If you do join you just may be able to restore some of your family's lost strength with these spells." Tokimi said in a conniving tone before she started walking towards the exit.

"Blackmail huh? No…. don't let yourself get riled up this easily... make your decision after you see what grampa says. In any case I should really hurry to the grocery store before it closes since it's starting to get dark outside, and I have been dragging out the far that I promised for far too long." Maria thought as she takes a deep breath.

"It's not blackmail… I simply think you're a capable person and forgive me for how this sounds, but I wanted to snatch you up before Drake gets his dragon fangs into you. If I know him as well as I think I do it's only a matter of time before he makes you an offer." Tokimi said as she had hunch on what Maria was thinking.

"One more question." Maria said.

"What is it?" Tokimi asks as she stops in front of the gymnasium exit.

"Did you find out who sent the hit squad?" Maria inquired.

"No… but when we do… well I'll see you later." Tokimi answered before leaving the gymnasium.

* * *

_And soon enough you'll see the results of Maria's training… I mean trip to the grocery store, but it's time for someone else to stand in the spotlight for a bit if only for a very short amount of time. That someone else will actually be two people, and those two people are the twins Kosaku and Mae Imada. You see Kosaku having heard about what happened from one of his other classmates left home and rushed back to the school for his sister's sake._

"You didn't have to run back on my account Kosaku." Mae said as she tries to downplay the issue.

"Look I heard about what happened from one of my classmates and that you saw the whole thing up close, so there was no way I was going to let you walk home by yourself personal feelings be damned." Kosaku retorts with a great deal of emotional fervor.

"Sigh… fine did anything interesting happen at home while I was at school?" Mae asks her brother as she decides to change the subject.

"Ha….. I could ask you the same thing….. well you know asides from the obvious." Kosaku said as the fact that he's grinning like an idiot clearly indicates that something good did happen.

"No nothing good, but I think I learned a little more about new friend." Mae said as she tries to walk on the edge of the curb as if it were a balance beam.

"New friend….. oh you mean Maria." Kosaku said as it finally donned on him.

"Yeah… It seems to me that she has some serious trust issues." Mae said as she and her brother move to the side to allow an old lady walking her dog to pass.

"That was completely obvious given how well she was hiding her emotions, but… I think she could be quite the good girl underneath all of that skin." Kosaku chuckled.

"Well according to Maria, you got quite a good grip on her skin." Mae said teasingly to her younger brother.

"Of for the love of… I swear on the grave of our parents that I didn't mean to grab that part!" Kosaku declared with his right hand raised as if he were about to testify in court.

"Relax I know….. Now would you tell me why you're grinning like an idiot?" Mae said as she gets in front of her brother and blocks his path.

"The specialized CAD I ordered from Four Leaves Technology was delivered just as I got home along with a custom made holster." Kosaku explained as he was feeling like a total big shot right now.

"Really? Can I see it?" Mae said with a great deal of excitement.

_At his sister's request, Kosaku pulls out a faded silver green gun shaped CAD with the FLT logo and the words "Silver Horn Catapult" written on both sides of the barrel._

"The 'Catapult' variation of the Silver Horn model emphasizes the potency of the spell that's paired with the Loop Cast system rather than the repetitions of the Loop Cast system itself. As for the color... I know it clashes with 3rd High's uniform, but as you know this shade of silver green is my favorite color so I asked that the paint job be done in it." Kosaku said as he happily gave his sister a summary of his new toy's capabilities.

"Say I know this will make me look stupid, but how exactly does the Loop Cast system work?" Mae curiously asks.

"Seriously you make it into Course 1 and you don't know?" Kosaku said as he was caught off guard by Mae's question.

"I barely made the top 100 of the theoretical portion of the entrance exam, but you little brother were the 20th highest, so I thought explaining something like that would be easy for you." Mae said as she felt insulted by her brother's insinuation.

"I don't completely understand how it works either, but with the loop cast system after you activate a spell for the first time a copy of the activation sequence for that spell is stored in a special chip inside the CAD. If you want to use the same spell again all you have to do in the case of this model of the Silver series I'm using is pull the trigger and your body will cycle the copy of the activation sequence for the spell through the magic calculation area of the brain instead of you having to prepare another one from scratch." Kosaku explained in a surprisingly easy to understand manner.

"Seems simple enough. Then again I heard a rumor that Taurus Silver himself handles all of the orders for the Silver Horn model." Mae said as she was able to easily grasp Kosaku's explanation.

"I heard the same thing. I wonder why such a guy would want to remain out of the public eye." Kosaku retorts.

"Good question….. Look, in any case Kosaku you should be a Course 1 student right there with me." Mae pointed out as she once again decides to change the subject.

"I know so did I, but if only I didn't get so nervous during the practical test. It's ironic… I was able to keep my cool despite being stuck outside all of the shelters in Okinawa for days while it was a warzone, but I can't seem to pass a simple test." Kosaku said as he finds this particular issue to be very annoying.

"Don't worry you'll prove to the school what you can do during the next exam, and then you'll prove what you can do at the 9 schools competition in the summer." Mae said as she clearly has high hopes for her brother's abilities.

"Even if I do ace the next exam….. there's no way a Course 2 student would be selected as a competitor." Kosaku points out.

"Oh just let me have my fun will you." Mae said as she was a little annoyed by her brother's outlook.

"Fine…. I'm in a good mood after all." Kosaku chuckled as he put away his new CAD right at the moment he and his sister arrived at a 4-Way intersection.

"Oh how cute…." a creepy low-toned sounding voice said just before its presumed owner started clapping his hands.

_Before Mae and her younger brother could cross one street or go around the corner of another, these two young magicians in training were surrounded by a band of 8 hoodlums dressed in street clothes with two goons covering each of the four potential escape routes._

"What do you want? In case you haven't noticed we're just two ordinary high school students on our way home after our first day." Kosaku asks as he takes a defensive stance in front of his sister.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? It's clear as day that you go to that school for magic brats, but here for that snitch so scram you brat if you don't want to get hurt." The leader of this particular goon squad said as he pointed his finger directly at Mae.

"If you're going to try something on my sister then this does concern me." Kosaku declared as he stretched his right arm outward as if he was about to cast another spell.

"Don't use that spell Kosaku! It'll cause way more problems then it'll fix." Mae pleads to her brother as she blocks his path and pulls tightly on both of his sleeves.

"You should listen to your sister. I've heard about how most of you Course 2 students can barely cast a spell, so I'm pretty sure anything you'd do would just blow up in your face." the leader of these goons said as he was clearly mocking Kosaku.

"I dare you to try me." Kosaku declared as he switched over to an offensive stance.

"Boys, it looks like we got ourselves a hero. Go on and show him what we do to heroes!" the leader of these goons yelled as he ordered his underlings to go on the attack.

_This goon squad and their leader started to tighten the proverbial noose that they believed they had around these twin's necks, but all of a sudden Kosaku's new CAD stuck itself out of his left sleeve pointed straight at the ground. Given the change in the flow of psions, it's clear that Kosaku has already prepared a spell and has set its target coordinates to be right under his and his sister's feet._

"What the…. when did he pull out one of those CAD things? I had eyes on both of his arms except for when….. crap…. the hero's sister must have done that on purpose to distract us while he reached for his CAD." The goon leader thought as there are signs of magic use that even ordinary humans can notice.

_As for Kosaku… by working with his customized Silver Horn CAD he used the movement type spell Launcher to catapult himself and his sister to the top of the wall of a nearby house._

"Don't just stand there gaping like a bunch of idiots! If the boss finds out we botched this job getting fired will be the least of our worries, so hurry and climb up there!" the leader of these goons yelled.

"I don't think so." Kosaku declared as given his tone of voice it's clear that he intends to end this minor struggle right now.

_Before any of these bands of idiots could even take the first step towards the wall Mae and her brother are standing upon, Kosaku takes full advantage of the Loop Cast system's capabilities and pulls the trigger of his CAD four times. With each pull of the trigger the spell Launcher catapults 2 of the 8 mooks at a time towards the center of the now empty intersection like a game of chicken, but only this time you can't coward out of it._

"Is it over?" Mae asks as she turns away from the carnage caused by multiple bodies of flesh crashing into each other.

"I only put enough power into Launcher to knock them out, so at best they'll walk away with a few bruises once they regain consciousness. Now we should actually leave before they regain consciousness or we'll really have some problems." Kosaku strongly suggests to her older sister.

* * *

_Soon enough the Imada twins leave this sorry excuse of a fight seen, and arrive save and sound at their home only a few minutes later with no further incident occurring. Still… the Imada twins weren't the only ones who had their trip home interrupted by a small group of unexpected people. You see our fabled heroine Maria was also visited by a group of less than reputable characters; however she wasted little time in showing that you don't mess with an eagle busy bringing food back to her nest. There were 4 goons who approached Maria….. 2 of which were lodged in the window of a nearby parked car, the third was flat out unconscious on the sidewalk, and Maria had lifted up the last one a short little man by his shirt with his back against the wall while threatening him with her wind facsimile of a beam saber to his neck._

"Tell me who sent you." Maria said in an emotionless tone, of which made things all the more scary for this poor stupid man.

"You won't get me to talk no matter what you do to me." this poor stupid mook said.

"Okay….. but I wonder how you'll feel with a piece of what makes you a man missing." Maria said threateningly as she jabbed the blade created through Wind Saber a few inches under a certain part of this man, and slowly started lifting it up.

"Alright….. alright I'll talk… just don't burn off the gonads!" this poor mook said as he sweats bullets like a heavy tropical storm.

"Congratulations you've just narrowly avoided being castrated. Now tell me who asked you to greet me the way you did or you won't avoid it the second time." Maria said.

"Umm….. I don't know who hired me alright… some lady paid us a boat load of yen to do this." this poor man said as he starts to look a little dehydrated.

"And the second time starts now." Maria said as she had her beam saber facsimile continue its rise up the wall.

"I swear I swear I don't know! Oh, god please don't hurt me." this poor man said as he will likely need a new pair of pants

"Tell me who sent you!" Maria yelled.

"I swear to god I don't know her name! She just told us half now, half after the job was done, and to tell you if you asked that 'You picked the wrong person to humiliate'. Please let me go!" this poor mook said as he pleaded for his life.

"Tch….. then tell your employer she'll have to do better than hiring a few guys off the street to get to me." Maria said as she let this man go.

"Oh thank you lady…. you are a kind wonderful woman, and I swear I'll pay back your kindness and live a lawful life for the remainder of my days!" this poor mook said before he ran as if his life was still on the line.

_Now that this incident was out of the way Maria picks up the groceries she got at a store earlier and resumes her journey towards wherever she originally planned to go, but she was interrupted once again however this time it was yet another mundane call from the same person Maria's been talking to all day over the phone._

"Yes I know I said I'd be there at that time…. A car accident….. Yeah, considering that two guys were thrown into the windows of another car and some other poor fool is unconscious on the sidewalk. Yeah the cops blocked it off, but no I'm not there now….. I just had to take a detour since the cops were still in the process of actually blocking off the street…. In about 20 minutes, and before you ask I was able to get everything on your list from that store… Okay, see you soon." Maria said before she hanged up on her phone whilst lying through her teeth.

* * *

_The remainder of Maria's walk to wherever she's going to carry those groceries will proceed without another hitch, but that destination will only remain a secret for a few minutes longer. In any case the Crimson Prince Masaki had spent a few hours after school in one of 3__rd__ High's training rooms while his friend the Cardinal George worked through part of the afternoon in his lab. After deciding that he didn't want to have a foul odor about him when he got home, Masaki goes and takes a quick shower in the boy's locker room. In any case it_ _doesn't take very much longer for the two of them to be on their way to Masaki's home after he convinced good old Cardinal George to come over again for dinner._

"And with one more turn around the corner….. it's straight on home." Masaki mumbled as they were only a few minutes away from the Ichijou family residence.

"You do realize that we could have just have just jumped the outer-wall at any time right? You're family does literally own half the block." Kichijouji pointed out as he pointed to the wall to their left.

"What are a few more minutes of exercise under the sun between friends? Besides, you could do with getting out of the lab more often since your skin is starting to look a little fairly pale." Masaki explained.

"I guess.… I can do with working outdoors just a little bit more." Kichijouji notes as he takes his friend's advice to heart.

"Besides, I'm sure that Akane would prefer that her future husband be in excellent health." Masaki jokingly tells his friend.

"Oh for the love of…. You're never going to let that go are you?" Kichijouji asks as he finds his old friend's comment extra-ordinarily annoying.

"I never will my old friend." Masaki said as he resists the urge to start laughing.

"Alright and I'll say it again for posterity's sake, but I'm not a lolicon!" Kichijouji yelled as he drops his composed look for only a moment.

"Denial will only prove my….. what the heck is that?" Masaki said as he was rendered silent for a moment after making the final turn around the street corner towards his home.

"It looks like a couple of small moving trucks Masaki, and people from the company that owns them busy moving stuff from inside the trailers to the inside of your house." Kichijouji pointed out as he squint his eyes a little.

"I can see that George, but that's not what I meant." Masaki said as he and Kichijouji hurry towards his home.

"I know you meant why they're here. I just felt like pointing out the obvious for a moment."Kichijouji retorts.

_Curious about the purpose of the presence of these moving trucks, Masaki along with his friend Kichijouji quickly enters the living room of his home only to find his mother directing the various movers as they continue to bring stuff inside._

"Mom, what's going on here?" Masaki curiously asks his mother as soon as he takes off his shoes.

"I'm glad to see your home son, and I see you brought George with you again today. How was your first day of school?" Mrs. Ichijou asks her son's friend.

"A little more eventful than I expected it to be, but otherwise it was fairly simple." Kichijouji answered.

"Ah yes I already heard about what happened. She's taking a nap in her room, but would you like me to get Akane for you?" Mrs. Ichijou asks.

"No thank you. She's probably just tired from her first day of school, so there's no reason to bother her on my account." Kichijouji answered.

"I don't mean to be rude mother, but what's with two trucks parked outside?" Masaki asks.

"One moment son… Yes, what is it?" Mrs. Ichijou said as she turned her attention towards one of the movers who walked up to her just as Masaki asked his question.

"First of all Mrs. Ichijou, I'd just like to say thank you on behalf of us all for being so understanding despite us being several hours late. As for matters of business… we've brought in about a third of the boxes into the living room as asked. What room would you like my boys and I to put it in now?" The mover asked Mrs. Ichijou with a great deal of respect.

"Bring them down the hallway to the left as you come into the kitchen from here, around the corner at the end, and into the large guestroom behind the third door on your left." Mrs. Ichijou ordered.

"You heard her boys…. start picking up boxes, and be careful a few of them are marked extremely fragile." The mover said as he starts barking orders to a few co-workers that were standing behind him.

"I haven't forgotten about you son. Now to answer your question…. Your father is repaying a debt your grandfather owed to an old friend of his on his behalf." Mrs. Ichijou explained.

"What debt?" Masaki asks.

"I don't really know much about it myself so you'll have to ask your father about it, but an old friend of your grandfather saved his life many years ago. Your father being grateful that his own father got to die as an old man is paying back that debt by offering to put up the old friend's granddaughter in a warmer family environment namely our home while she attends school here." Mrs. Ichijou said.

"I see if that's all it is then I was worried for nothing. So where is my or our new roommate going to school then?" Masaki inquired.

"A foreign exchange roommate to be specific and she's attending 3rd High like you and George. In fact last I spoke to her she mentioned that she saw you at school today. Besides I also think it'll be good for Ruri and Akane to have someone closer to their age to look up to." Mrs. Ichijou answered.

"Is this role model here then?" Kichijouji curiously asks.

"No she isn't and I know she's supposed to be a guest in our home, but I asked her to pick up some things from a nearby grocery store. They're all just ingredients for a little welcome dinner I wanted to put together for her. Oh….. that might be her now. Masaki, could you please get the door? One of the movers must have accidently closed it." Mrs. Ichijou explains to her son and his friend as the doorbell rings in the background.

_After telling his friend the Cardinal George to make himself anywhere at home, Masaki quickly hurries to the front door and opens it. He can also see that his new roommate for the lack of a better word is carrying so many boxes and bags that her entire upper body his hidden by the whole mass of fruits and vegetables, and that it would make you think Masaki's mother is making food for way more than just 7 people._

"Finally….. look could you please take some of these boxes? I'm getting tired of having a salmon slap me in the face every two steps." The girl who was on the other side of this mountain of groceries said.

"Sure….. just bend your knees a little. This way it'll be a little easier for you to slide the boxes into my hands." Masaki politely suggested.

"Thanks… and I'll follow you inside after I pick up the few bags that are still resting against the door." This girl said Masaki still couldn't see her face due to the mountain of groceries he was now carrying.

_When Masaki and this as of yet unidentified female student went to the kitchen of the Ichijou family residence, they found Kichijouji enjoying a cup of tea from a pot Mrs. Ichijou had already prepared in advance while Akane is staring at him like a love struck baboon._

"Where should I put all of this?" Masaki asks his mother.

"Just put it on the table. Akane and I will put away and get everything started." Mrs. Kichijouji said.

"Okay mom. Say George, I just have to show you this new dish mom taught me how to make." Akane said as he started to pull on Kichijouji's arm a little.

"I don't mind, but it would be easier for you to…." Kichijouji was saying when he was all of a sudden rendered silent by something he when he turns his face in Masaki's direction.

"What is it George?" Masaki asks with some degree of concern as he rarely ever sees his friend speechless.

"Turn around." Kichijouji blurted out in response.

_Following his friend's suggestion, Masaki turns around and finds that the girl at the door was none other than Maria C. Alcott. The very same young lady Masaki had accidently bonked on the back of the head early this morning_

"What? You two look like you've seen a ghost." Maria said as she doesn't understand why Masaki and Kichijouji are looking at her like a couple of idiots.

"It's just that…. if my family offered to welcome you into our home….. I was wondering why you didn't say anything this morning." Masaki explained.

"There was both no reason for me to do so, and I was told not to say anything to you until tonight." Maria explained.

"Maria, welcome to our home. I hope your first day of school in our country was enjoyable." Mrs. Ichijou said as she walked up to Maria.

"Thank you for putting up with me. Your husband didn't have to do this as I was perfectly content with renting a small apartment." Maria said as she offered Masaki's mother a respectful bow.

"Nonsense as from what I understand your grandfather is a friend of the family, so this much is the least we could do for a friend." Mrs. Ichijou retorts.

"Then I shall do my best to not be a burden." Maria said.

"Again nonsense, but allow me to get introductions out of the way. You've already met my son Masaki and his friend George, then the young lady holding onto George's hand is my second eldest Akane, my youngest daughter Ruri is somewhere around here, and my husband is in my office." Mrs. Ichijou said.

"Hello, and I'll be sure to introduce myself to those two later. For now however, I don't mean to be rude by cutting the introductions short but where will my room be?" Maria asks after she quickly greets Akane.

"You're really pretty. How do you get your hair like that?" Akane asks as she looks upon Maria with admiration.

"There's no secret to it little one. My hair naturally grows like this." Maria answered as she puts a kind look on her face purely for Akane's sake.

"At any rate your room will be down this left hallway, around the corner, and it'll be the third door on your left. You'll actually be right next to Masaki, so if you ever need anything don't be afraid to bother him." Mrs. Ichijou said.

"I'll try to only do so when necessary." Maria said as contrary to how she sounds she truly doesn't want to be a burden to these people.

"It's really not a big…. oh I nearly forgot. Could you please introduce yourself? It would be rather hard living together without knowing your name after all." Mrs. Ichijou politely requests.

"Ah I'm sorry for not doing so earlier. My name is Maria C. Alcott, I'm 16 years old, and my accent should indicate I'm from the USNA or to be more specific the former United States of America." Maria said.

"Alcott….. that name seems familiar." Masaki and Kichijouji thought though they recognized the last name for different reasons.

"I remember now….. my grandfather told me a story about how someone by the name of George Alcott saved his life and the life of his squad during the final years of WW3. You're saying that he's your grandfather?" Masaki asks as he experiences something fairly close to an epiphany.

"Yes George Alcott is my grampa." Maria answered.

"The Alcott family has a magical lineage dating back over half a century, has been a military family over the last 2 centuries, and almost a century ago developed a series of unique acceleration/weight/movement spells all to manipulate gravity and the meteorological phenomenon we know as wind." Kichijouji said as if he were reading what he said out of a textbook.

"While we have developed several unique spells, my family has used the archaic term wind magic and gravity manipulation magic for over half a century. Also, to save you the trouble of mentioning it my family also does bodyguard work like you country's Morisaki clan. In fact we've worked together for some of our mutual international clients. I've actually met a couple members of that family too." Maria explained.

"I already knew that. A few of the scientists at the research institute where I work have dedicated themselves to recreating some of your family's unique spells among that of the spells of other families." Kichijouji said explaining how he knew of Maria's family.

"If you happen to recreate one of our lost Ancient Magic spells please let me know, and I'm sure my grampa would be more than willing to accommodate you for your troubles. As one of the two potential heirs for my family, it's my duty to do what I can to recover Alcott family history." Maria said as she was being quite serious about her offer. Speaking of which, my family's ties to the Ichijou clan go even father back then my grampa but I'm not in the mood to discuss history at the moment." Maria retorts.

"Yes well before you make yourselves comfortable and sit down for dinner, my husband wanted to see you and Masaki in his office as soon as you both were here. George, feel free to go with them as I'm sure it's nothing serious." Mrs. Ichijou

"Alright then mom. If you'll please follow me Maria I'll show you to my father's office." Masaki informed.

_Conveniently enough, the master of the Ichijou family's home office isn't very far from the kitchen, so as a result it doesn't take Masaki very long for him to show Maria the way there. Or perhaps it didn't take very long because Masaki was hungry and decided to pick up the pace as a result. In any case Masaki, Maria, and Kichijouji stand together in a uniform line like professional soldiers as they enter the home office of Gouki Ichijou the head of one of the 10 master clans. That title is given only to the 10 strongest magic families in Japan, and I mean the strongest not the most talented._

"What's going on father? Why did you invite this person to stay with us?" Masaki asked his father as despite his lack of strategy tact, he was at least smart enough to know or at least suspect that Maria wasn't here merely so his father could pay back a debt.

"First of all I hope the ride here and you first day of school was alright." Mr. Ichijou said as he was referring not to his own son but instead Maria.

"I slept through it and it was only a little eventful sir." Maria said as he addressed the head of the Ichijou family as if he was a superior officer in the military.

"Then let me also offer your grandfather once more on my own father's behalf thank you for saving his life." Mr. Ichijou said as he decided to start things off with some kind of ice breaker.

"I don't been to be rude by repeating myself father, but just what is going on?" Masaki asks again.

"I was only going to tell you and Maria in private, but I suppose that it's appropriate that George is here as well… I'll be blunt…. you're familiar with at least part of what the Alcott family does for a living correct?" Mr. Ichijou asks of his son.

"Asides from years of military service in the USNA and the USA before that, the Alcott family also does private bodyguard work." Masaki answered.

"Good, that means that I don't have to beat around the bush. There were threats made from as of yet unidentified sources to the Ichijou family. I've already taken the necessary precautions for your mother and younger sisters; however given the need to be subtle I've asked the Alcott family to send someone to act as your bodyguard at school until the source of these threats can be dealt with. You should be lucky son, especially since they sent the heir to their family." Mr. Ichijou explained.

"I'm only one of two heirs sir." Maria pointed out.

"With all due respect father is this really necessary? I'm more than capable of defending myself." Masaki pointed out.

"He's right sir, and now that I know I'm more than capable of watching Masaki's back." Kichijouji followed.

"While you are more than competent George, you none the less can't spend every waking moment watching Masaki's back. And son, I know your capable of defending yourself against a typical assassin but you'll need assistance against an atypical one." Mr. Ichijou pointed out.

"This is about the fact that I'm a Course 2 student isn't it? You strike me as type to be against the discrimination that goes on, but you still can't help but think 'She's still ranked as Course 2 for a reason, so she can't possibly be that strong'. Or am I wrong?" Maria rather coldly pointed out.

"What? No I don't think that." Masaki said as he doesn't like the thought of being accused of classism.

"Masaki, she did perform two fairly complex spells with relative ease." Kichijouji pointed out as he referred to the ones Maria used during lunch and after school due to having to acknowledge her strength as the result of his position as a scientist.

"The only reason I'm ranked as a Course 2 student is because of a horribly unexpected obstacle during the practical portion of the entrance exam throwing me completely off my game." Maria explained.

"Furthermore Maria used to be a part of Stars as a 1st Class Planet up until 3 years ago, so she's more than competent in a fight." Mr. Ichijou pointed out.

"I was a 2nd class not a 1st class sir." Maria said as she corrected her employer's mistake.

"Ah my bad then." Mr. Ichijou said as he acknowledged his own mistake.

"Why did you leave?" Masaki asked despite of his father's description of her capabilities.

"That's my business." Maria quickly answered, of which indicates it's a sore subject for her.

"Okay….. In any case capability aside, I'll say it again father I'm more than capable of protecting myself." Masaki argues to his father.

"Until this matter is resolved, Maria acting as your bodyguard is not up for debate." Mr. Ichijou said as he put his foot down before his son.

"Sir, I have a suggestion if you'll allow it." Maria said.

"Go ahead." Mr. Ichijou said curious about what Maria had cooking up her sleeve.

"In order to prove to you the value of a bodyguard and how your preconceptions about being able to protect yourself are false….. Fight me Masaki Ichijou right here in your own home." Maria declared.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

Kichijouji: Long range bombardment magic versus close quarters combat magic. It should be interesting, but there's no way Masaki will lose regardless.

Maria: Don't count the battle as over before it had even begun.

Masaki: I don't really want to damage my own house.

Maria: Next time on Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Gravità Aquila "Hidden Rupture".


End file.
